France vs. New Zealand: An Emphatic Comeback! | 1999 RWC

What a cute little dance at the start!
Hope the french will soon start a french can-can or the Irish a river dance.

1

Of all the world cup matches.easily the greatest by far... Simply sensational... Just like when an older Muhammad Ali upset... outclassed... and knocked out big bad George Foreman . Love and respect...

Dan Carter and Johnny Wilkinson had longer, greater careers and WC wins, but that performance by La Maison, absolutely incredible. Also has there ever been a braver rugger than Domenici?!

A well deserved win but Lomu is in a class of his own.

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 When rugby tournaments come around I support France purely because of this game. NZ with a prime Jonah Lomu, as I recall, were the reddest hottest favourites to win anything ever and just when it appeared they were about to steamroller their latest victims France took them apart in about 20 magical minutes, stealing my heart in the process. It was like watching a quality movie and I was glued to every moment. Best thing I’ve seen on a rugby pitch and my No.1 game.

I had a largely unpaid job writing previews of these WC games for an online Aussie bookie. I predicted a 12 point win for NZ but I added in my final sentence to beware of France, They had not started playing yet and if they did play their best, they would win. All the kiwis I worked with had miserable faces the following day and blamed me for NZ losing !!

I was there. I even managed to get some Twickenham grass after the game as a souvenir. The best game of 🏉 I've ever watched. France were on a different level that day.🇨🇵 💪

Much better commentary than the incessant non stop chattering we have these daysm.

the game of the 20th century.

These two legends Jonah and Christophe left too soon, like some others... Let us hope that this magnificent sport will make us discover other legends...

The English public is extraordinary, a match which is irrational and which proves all the beauty of this sport!

Jonah lomu - too good

Was there. At half time we started planning for a trip to Cardiff to watch ABs in the final. Pretty dismal leaving the stadium after the game. :^D

Hacked away by Magne

I’m from NZ. You have to appreciate the way France stole it back in the second half. Brilliant rugby

Fantastic....I'm sad for Lomu and Dominici....legends,their masterpiece...RIP and thanks for all

The French often pull something out of the bag against the ABs. Hope they repeat it on Friday.

The referee Fleming did see quite a few drop goals in the quarter and semi finals he refereed that WC 😄

Taine Randel was my least favourite captain of the ABS. They usually lost.

Classic match showing why you can never count the French out, when they decide to play. Lomu was something else.

I just watched this for the first time in 2023. What happened to the All Blacks in the second half? To think the "forward pass" win in 2007 was my favorite France v NZ game. Bring on the opening match!!

See you tonight guys! Let's carry on the legend.

RFU = Emperor's New Clothes,
why was the first whistle for 'off side'

Titou Lamaison

One of the most epic, greatest games ever played in a Rugby World Cup.

Dont forget lamaison.

To that point, this game was the turnaround performance in a RWC match. Down 24-10 just after halftime, the French scored 33 unanswered points. Lamaison scored 28 points himself! France were inspired that day, fair play to them. NZ would go on to suffer more heartbreak 8 years later in the QF v France in Cardiff, before we turned it around in Auckland in 2011 and in London in 2015. But the 1999 SF will long live in the memory as the underdog's triumph.

the french were unreal deserved the win sizzling back play

France has always managed to beat the ALL Blacks at world cups

I remember watching that match. I couldn't believe how New Zealand could give that match away.

does anyone know these australian tv guys names ?

Worth mentioning the outstanding commentary for this game made it even more sensational

24 yrs ago most fantastic match ive seen. the french at their mercurial best and im English.

Went to the game. An epic one but hardly an upset, nevermind the biggest in all of RWC history. Two traditional powers of the sport, in fact that was the first ever RWC final in 1987, a clash between France and New Zealand.

Merthens knock the nail on the head when he said we should have used Lomu a lot more .

LaMaison’s performance in this match was incredible and up there on the day with any outside half in rugby history.

Cullen lost that game, he wasn’t passing it to Lomu enough. Watch the game, I remember my Father and uncles were cussing Cullen out.

The biggest upset of all time? Not really. The All Blacks at the time were rebuilding. They had lost 5 test matches in a row in 1998, which was previously unthinkable. A lot of senior players had retired and players were playing out of position (Cullen should have been at fullback not centre, plus Umaga was arguably better as a centre not wing).

dans la gueule à o'keef !

les all blacks ont été très vexés

Allez les bleus 🇫🇷

At the the time it was one of the saddest losses to me supporting the All Blacks. One of the biggest upsets in Test Rugby and Rugby World Cup history. Epic win for the fantastic French team. Whenever I return to this game now I'm sad now because knowing what happened to their wonderful winger Christophe Dominici! RIP. The game played in heaven. 🙏💙🏉

For me, the test of the last century. That All Black side had excellent players. But France showed, as it did in 1994, why it should never be written off. RIP Jonah Lomu ( 1975-2015 ). RIP Christophe Dominici ( 1972-2020 ). Both players gone far too soon.

Rest In Peace-Rise In Power to Jonah Lomu and Chris Dominici❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️🙏🏿🙏🏿🙏🏿🙏🏿🙏🏿

Fantastic. Greatest game of all time. Vive la France

Won 4 tickets for this game ,as a young winger I was in awe of big Jonah but blown away by Dominici speed and agility.I said I’d never support France but was out of my seat cheering for them. Probably the best live game I’ve watched

Where does this encounter rank in your all time list? Let us know in the comments!