France Bounce Back to Lead the North After Christchurch Heartbreak

When the All Blacks opened their 2026 Nations Championship campaign in Christchurch, it was a depleted France side that gave them the fright of the tournament so far. Three weeks on, Les Bleus have turned that near miss into real momentum, and they now sit on top of the Northern group.

The opener at One New Zealand Stadium on 4 July was a genuine thriller. As Planet Rugby reported, the All Blacks held on to win 34-32 in Dave Rennie's first Test in charge, with Cam Roigard and Will Jordan each scoring twice. France, missing a raft of frontline players, refused to go away and were still chasing the game deep into the closing minutes. All Blacks' own report called it a Christchurch thriller and confirmed the two-point margin.

For a French team that arrived understrength, pushing the world's most famous side to the final whistle was a marker of intent rather than a setback. And they backed it up.

A week later in Brisbane, France answered with a statement performance, beating Australia 42-26 as the Associated Press noted. Then on 18 July in Tokyo they made it two from two, running Japan ragged in a 42-15 win, with skipper Maxime Lucu tallying 15 points from five conversions and a try in the same AP match report.

That run has left France sitting pretty at the top of the Northern standings. After Round 3 they hold a 2-1 record and 12 competition points, first in the Northern group, according to the RugbyPass standings. Their points difference tells the story of two commanding follow-up wins after that narrow Christchurch defeat.

Lucu has been at the heart of it. The tournament stats list the France captain as the leading point-scorer of the 2026 Nations Championship on 37 points, a reward for his steady goal-kicking across all three rounds.

For a New Zealand audience, France's form is worth watching closely. They are the Northern side that ran the All Blacks closest, and they are building through the pool stage without their full squad on deck. With the tournament resuming later in the year, a France team that already gave Rennie's side a scare in Christchurch looks like it will only get stronger.

The All Blacks got the result on the night. France, though, may have found the momentum.