Les Bleus see red over yellow
‘‘We’re not going to make excuses, but I can only hope it goes both ways next time.’’
The Timaru-born front rower felt it was a frustrating game for the French, having played so well to lead 11-8 at the break, he said it was disappointing they couldn’t keep that level of intensity up for the second half, regardless of whether they were down to 14 players.
‘‘We started well,’’ he said.
‘‘That first half went past quite quickly and on defence we had a good line.
‘‘There were two tries disallowed in that first half and that was because we were working good together.
‘‘But after the yellow card, everything went up in smoke and we started going left to right, especially under our posts.’’
Atonio left the game in the 43rd minute, so can’t take any blame for the secondhalf disintegration by the French and he had to watch from the sidelines forlornly as the All Blacks racked up the points.
‘‘It was bad because I got a stinger in the first half on my shoulder and I tried to carry on,’’ Atonio explained.
‘‘But I didn’t want to sacrifice the team by getting run over in the scrums.
‘‘But look, this is the first game, they had a big crowd at Eden Park and we made them a bit scared in that first half,’’ Atonio said.
‘‘We’ll work on stuff during the week and see how it goes in Wellington.’’
It was a debut night of tears and cheers for cult All Blacks hero Karl Tu’inukuafe with the monster prop earning comparisons to a legend of yesteryear for his gamechanging turn off the bench.
Tu’inukuafe, a one-time nightclub bouncer from Auckland who did not even have a Super Rugby contract at the start of this year, came through his introduction to test rugby with flying colours in the 52-11 victory over France at Eden Park on Saturday night.
The Chiefs callup played a major role in an outstanding contribution from the All Blacks bench that turned the opening test of the June series on its head with a seven-try second-half scoring blitz.
The All Blacks were trailing the French 11-8 when the 135kg loosehead prop was introduced in the 46th minute, just in time for a scrum. His impact was immediate as the New Zealand eight shoved the French off the ball to earn a match-squaring penalty that was later lauded as a game-changer.
‘‘That’s a brilliant moment for Karl,’’ said halfback Aaron Smith. ‘‘It’s been a big week for him, and new test caps are always nervous. But, let’s be honest, for a prop to come on and the first thing he does is scrum, I’m pretty sure he’s happy about that.
‘‘He came up and was getting all the taps and ‘chahoos’, and he was really happy after that.’’
Added hooker Codie Taylor: ‘‘We talk about key moments, and that was one of them. Karl came on for a scrum, it was a key moment for him to build some confidence, and he really nailed it. On the receiving end you think, ‘crap, we’re under the pump here’. That helped turn the game.’’
Coach Steve Hansen was so rapt with his replacement frontrower’s impact he delved into the history book to make a vivid comparison for a fellow who ‘‘proved he’s of All Blacks standard’’.
‘‘He’s pretty humble, the big fellow. I never met Keith Murdoch, but he’s got a moustache like him, scrums like him and is pretty big round the chest,’’ said Hansen. ‘‘There’s a lot of top end in Karl, but he’s just starting, and we’ve got to make sure we don’t blow him up by pushing him too fast, too early.’’
It was an emotional evening for Tu’inukuafe who revealed