I felt the props did ok but I did feel that Williams would have more impact around the field, at times EdG looked to me like he was willing himself to get up to speed between rucks.
All Blacks
Match thread
France II
@Mr-Fish said in All Blacks v France 2:
Would people have felt massively differently about an 11-point win rather than a 4-point win
I can't speak for people, but I struggle to see how an 11 point win against a wilting side wouldn't be much better than a 4 point win against a team threatening to take the win themselves. Especially in the first test. So yeah, I would've felt much different, especially seeing a better functioning ABs.
After the French moral victory in Dunedin, I can't see them making many changes. Rinse and repeat from them and they'll hope they get more out of a Northern Hemisphere ref, especially one with a French first name and who was born in Paris. 
@BerniesCorner said in All Blacks v France 2:
@Bones there was a genuine chance we could have lost that. If so I'd be feeling as sick as a dog right now. I take the win and move on.
Right? So wouldn't you have felt remarkably better about it being out of reach in the dying minutes? Something like Savea having to do less carries and therefore having more in the tank for a big defensive play. That's the margin.
@BerniesCorner said in All Blacks v France 2:
I'm not disagreeing with you. Thank goodness we won. We were a dropped pass away from losing
Lomax prolly woulda dropped it.
@BerniesCorner did you think our defence was that bad? A dropped ball and we'd lose?
More from Chat GTP on the man who will have le sifflet during Saturday's test.
Here’s a detailed look at Christophe Ridley, a rising star in rugby officiating:
⸻
🧑
️ Background & Education
• Born: 16 April 1993 in Paris, France, but is an English-qualified rugby referee .
• Education: Studied Sports Coaching at the University of Gloucestershire (from 2013), benefiting from a unique officiating scholarship run by ex-World Cup ref Chris White . He now tutors on the programme and serves as a “referee in residence” for the RFU–University Officiating Hub .
⸻
Refereeing Career
• 2016: Turned professional arena referee, debuting in Championship and quickly moving into Premiership Rugby .
• Premier Competitions: Regularly oversees Premiership Rugby, European Rugby Champions Cup and Challenge Cup, and United Rugby Championship (since 2021–22) .
• International Stage:
• Debut as lead referee in Six Nations in 2024, officiating France v Italy .
• Assistant Referee at the 2023 Rugby World Cup .
⸻
Key Milestones
• Premiership Final 2024: Assigned as the main referee for the Northampton Saints vs Bath game at Twickenham—a prestigious first for a post-Wayne Barnes official . His semi-final showing earned him broad praise:
“Been the best ref in the league this season imo…” 
“To be fair Ridley has been better and not many referees get domestic and European finals in the same year.” 
• European Champions Cup 2023: One of the Assistant Referees in the final ().
⸻
️ Personality & Style
• Mentored by Wayne Barnes and influenced by Luke Pearce for his calm, flowing style .
• Performance-driven: Adopts a rigorous review routine—waking early post-match for analysis—with a pursuit of perfection, supported by his partner Katie Nelson .
• Mindset: Describes “quiet arrogance” and a constant quest for growth, regularly consulting experts across fields .
• Life off-field: Balances intense on-field demands with renovation projects, gym workouts, and time with his dogs and partner .
⸻
Community Engagement
• Hosts local events like quiz & curry nights to share insights and support veteran programmes .
• Actively involved in mentoring upcoming referees through his role with the University and RFU Officiating Hub .
⸻
Summary
Christophe Ridley is one of England’s most promising rugby referees: a former Leicester Tigers academy player turned professional official, with a strong academic foundation and a distinguished track record across domestic and international competitions. Known for his composed, performance-driven approach.
@sparky said in All Blacks v France 2:
After the French moral victory in Dunedin, I can't see them making many changes. Rinse and repeat from them and they'll hope they get more out of a Northern Hemisphere ref, especially one with a French first name and who was born in Paris.
Worked for them in 2011
@nostrildamus said in All Blacks v France 2:
"Mentored by Wayne Barnes" - oh, great!?!
Strange world where you can have a Georgian, a Canadian and a Saffa play for France. And someone born in Paris as the neutral referee.
At least his French will be good rather than some of the comedy attempts to speak the language we've had from referees over the years.....
@sparky said in All Blacks v France 2:
Strange world where you can have a Georgian, a Canadian and a Saffa play for France. And someone born in Paris as the neutral referee.
At least his French will be good rather than some of the comedy attempts to speak the language we've had from referees over the years.....
Don't you just speak louder with an accent?
@booboo said in All Blacks v France 2:
@sparky said in All Blacks v France 2:
Strange world where you can have a Georgian, a Canadian and a Saffa play for France. And someone born in Paris as the neutral referee.
At least his French will be good rather than some of the comedy attempts to speak the language we've had from referees over the years.....
Don't you just speak louder with an accent?
Louder and slower. Makes you damn near fluent in whatever country you are in
@nostrildamus said in All Blacks v France 2:
@frugby said in All Blacks v France 2:
Why drop Barrett? Thought he went pretty bloody well - DMac on the other hand was rocks and diamonds.
I’d stick with the same team barring injuries (Lomax for Newell & Clarke for Reece). Proctor was poor, but one game is not a big enough sample size.
I'd like Beauden to draw tacklers more
Lol which one was it where BB basically caught and passed with no one around him and Marshall started sucking him off for his "draw and pass"?
I wouldn't make a single change. We won, we did a lot very well.
Another week together and see what happens.
@mariner4life said in All Blacks v France 2:
I wouldn't make a single change. We won, we did a lot very well.
Another week together and see what happens.
Including picking a concussed Sevu Reece?
Love to start, DMac back to the bench to hopefully do his thing in the last 20/30.
Would've been interesting how much worse the kicking would have been with a back three that kick worse than half the loosies in the country.
@Bones said in All Blacks v France 2:
Love to start, DMac back to the bench to hopefully do his thing in the last 20/30.
Would've been interesting how much worse the kicking would have been with a back three that kick worse than half the loosies in the country.
I think Razors plan for DMAC is just that, because he will be expecting to bring Mounga back into the side next year, so DMAC can cover 10/15 from the bench
@sparky said in All Blacks v France 2:
@mariner4life said in All Blacks v France 2:
I wouldn't make a single change. We won, we did a lot very well.
Another week together and see what happens.
Including picking a concussed Sevu Reece?
Yes, if his missus had to deal with a concussion so can he
@DaGrubster said in All Blacks v France 2:
@Bones said in All Blacks v France 2:
Love to start, DMac back to the bench to hopefully do his thing in the last 20/30.
Would've been interesting how much worse the kicking would have been with a back three that kick worse than half the loosies in the country.
I think Razors plan for DMAC is just that, because he will be expecting to bring Mounga back into the side next year, so DMAC can cover 10/15 from the bench
Bait.
@Bones said in All Blacks v France 2:
@DaGrubster said in All Blacks v France 2:
@Bones said in All Blacks v France 2:
Love to start, DMac back to the bench to hopefully do his thing in the last 20/30.
Would've been interesting how much worse the kicking would have been with a back three that kick worse than half the loosies in the country.
I think Razors plan for DMAC is just that, because he will be expecting to bring Mounga back into the side next year, so DMAC can cover 10/15 from the bench
Bait.
Bones, stop talking shit
G. Bower, C. Taylor, F. Newell, T. Otago, T. Blue, T. Chief, T. Moana, C. Lio-Willie, N. Hotham, T. Naki, T. Orc, J. Barrett, T. Welly, W. Jordan, T. Cane
Too many tokens…..
Christophe Ridley and Wayne Barnes have some pretty funny interactions on the Whistleblowers doco that came out a couple of years ago.
@DaGrubster said in All Blacks v France 2:
@Bones said in All Blacks v France 2:
@DaGrubster said in All Blacks v France 2:
@Bones said in All Blacks v France 2:
Love to start, DMac back to the bench to hopefully do his thing in the last 20/30.
Would've been interesting how much worse the kicking would have been with a back three that kick worse than half the loosies in the country.
I think Razors plan for DMAC is just that, because he will be expecting to bring Mounga back into the side next year, so DMAC can cover 10/15 from the bench
Bait.
Bones, stop talking shit
Well thought out, but
I'd go with pretty much the same team as the first test with a few players moving around because of injuries, I don't think we'll see too many changes until we have the series wrapped up. My team would be the following:
- De Groot
- Taylor
- Newell
- Holland
- Va'ai
- Finau
- Savea (C)
- Lio-Willie
- Roigard
- Barrett
- Ioane
- Barrett
- Proctor
- Jordan
- McKenzie
- Taukei'aho
- Norris
- Tosi
- Tuipolotu
- Kirifi
- Ratima
- Love
- Tupaea
@DaGrubster said in All Blacks v France 2:
@Bones said in All Blacks v France 2:
Love to start, DMac back to the bench to hopefully do his thing in the last 20/30.
Would've been interesting how much worse the kicking would have been with a back three that kick worse than half the loosies in the country.
I think Razors plan for DMAC is just that, because he will be expecting to bring Mounga back into the side next year, so DMAC can cover 10/15 from the bench
So we keep hearing. Don’t be so sure…
@ploughboy said in All Blacks v France 2:
didnt robertson say that all 33 will get a run in series.Given some have dropped out with injuries might make it a smaller pool but would expect changes
Simple way of looking at it is that if you started with 33 in squad then at least 5 would have to change each week in order for everyone to get a run.
@Canes4life , mate I wouldn't mind seeing Vaa'i stay at 6, start Pat T at lock, and see how Ardie goes back at 8, and start with Kirifi. Leave Finau as bench player, though would be happy to see Jacobson on bench too . Backline, I not sure about, but if they want Jordan back at 15 would look at Nawara on right wing, and would maybe look at Clarke on left, we need to get better under high ball, we were poor on Saturday.
@sparky said in All Blacks v France 2:
More from Chat GTP on the man who will have le sifflet during Saturday's test.
Here’s a detailed look at Christophe Ridley, a rising star in rugby officiating:
⸻
🧑
• Born: 16 April 1993 in Paris, France, but is an English-qualified rugby referee .
• Education: Studied Sports Coaching at the University of Gloucestershire (from 2013), benefiting from a unique officiating scholarship run by ex-World Cup ref Chris White . He now tutors on the programme and serves as a “referee in residence” for the RFU–University Officiating Hub .⸻
• 2016: Turned professional arena referee, debuting in Championship and quickly moving into Premiership Rugby .
• Premier Competitions: Regularly oversees Premiership Rugby, European Rugby Champions Cup and Challenge Cup, and United Rugby Championship (since 2021–22) .
• International Stage:
• Debut as lead referee in Six Nations in 2024, officiating France v Italy .
• Assistant Referee at the 2023 Rugby World Cup .⸻
• Premiership Final 2024: Assigned as the main referee for the Northampton Saints vs Bath game at Twickenham—a prestigious first for a post-Wayne Barnes official . His semi-final showing earned him broad praise:
“Been the best ref in the league this season imo…” 
“To be fair Ridley has been better and not many referees get domestic and European finals in the same year.” 
• European Champions Cup 2023: One of the Assistant Referees in the final ().⸻
• Mentored by Wayne Barnes and influenced by Luke Pearce for his calm, flowing style .
• Performance-driven: Adopts a rigorous review routine—waking early post-match for analysis—with a pursuit of perfection, supported by his partner Katie Nelson .
• Mindset: Describes “quiet arrogance” and a constant quest for growth, regularly consulting experts across fields .
• Life off-field: Balances intense on-field demands with renovation projects, gym workouts, and time with his dogs and partner .⸻
• Hosts local events like quiz & curry nights to share insights and support veteran programmes .
• Actively involved in mentoring upcoming referees through his role with the University and RFU Officiating Hub .⸻
Christophe Ridley is one of England’s most promising rugby referees: a former Leicester Tigers academy player turned professional official, with a strong academic foundation and a distinguished track record across domestic and international competitions. Known for his composed, performance-driven approach.
Despise him already.
@Dan54 said in All Blacks v France 2:
@Canes4life , mate I wouldn't mind seeing Vaa'i stay at 6, start Pat T at lock, and see how Ardie goes back at 8, and start with Kirifi. Leave Finau as bench player, though would be happy to see Jacobson on bench too . Backline, I not sure about, but if they want Jordan back at 15 would look at Nawara on right wing, and would maybe look at Clarke on left, we need to get better under high ball, we were poor on Saturday.
Makes sense to me Dan.
Ardie did a lot of linking and continuity work I thought. He isn't a typical 7 but for people on here to say he was "shit", well, that wasn't my take on his game.
The forward I really thought we were missing was a 2024-level Sititi.
There’s quite a few changes in that lineup from a positional stance and therefore would require more of change than I think is necessary from the first test.
I’m more inclined for this series to make a direct swap (ala CLW for Sititi) than shoehorn guys that weren’t the original option.
De Groot
Taylor
Newell
Tuipoluto (in for Scooter if injured)
Holland
Va'ai
Savea (C)
Lio-Willie
Roigard
Barrett
Ioane
Barrett
Proctor
Narawa or Clarke (in for Reece)
Jordan
Taukei'aho
Norris
Tosi
Finau
Kirifi
Ratima
McKenzie
Tupaea
@Dan54 said in All Blacks v France 2:
@Canes4life , mate I wouldn't mind seeing Vaa'i stay at 6, start Pat T at lock, and see how Ardie goes back at 8, and start with Kirifi. Leave Finau as bench player, though would be happy to see Jacobson on bench too .
That would be an utter fucking disaster.
@antipodean said in All Blacks v France 2:
@Dan54 said in All Blacks v France 2:
@Canes4life , mate I wouldn't mind seeing Vaa'i stay at 6, start Pat T at lock, and see how Ardie goes back at 8, and start with Kirifi. Leave Finau as bench player, though would be happy to see Jacobson on bench too .
That would be an utter fucking disaster.
Agree, we can't have both on the field at the same time. Kirifi was getting bounced back like a winger when he was carrying.
Just have both covering seven, and get a big body playing eight.