Axel May / Photo credits: Yoann Cambefort / Marti Media / DPPI via AFP 07:36, September 08, 2023

On the occasion of the opening of the 2023 Rugby World Cup in Paris, the France face New Zealand. A summit meeting between two teams that don't want to be seen as each other's best. Because if the Blacks are better positioned on the list of favorites, their results are mixed in recent months.

This time, it's gone. The Rugby World Cup officially begins this Friday evening, with a summit match: France - New Zealand. And the XV of France, led by Antoine Dupont, will he succeed in putting stars in the eyes of the spectators?

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Nobody wants the favorite spot

The question is asked while the French team, just like the New Zealand team, does not want to wear the label of favorite before the game. "There is the excitement of playing a World Cup in a country considered one of the favourites, with its fans, its atmosphere. This match is long overdue" by many, said All Blacks captain Sam Cane.

The statistics speak in favor of the New Zealanders since in the World Cup, they won 5 of the 7 games played against France. But the Blacks version 2023 are capable of the best as well as the worst and remain, for example, on a crushing defeat last month against the defending champions the South Africans.

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Optimistic French fans

"The All Blacks remain the greatest team in the world," tempers nevertheless the captain of the Blues, Antoine Dupont. "Especially in this competition, with players with more than 100 caps who know the big games and who will be there to give the best rugby because, again, they have the ability," continued Antoine Dupont.

But French fans remember the last confrontation, this test match of November 2021 at the Stade de France, which the Blues had won on the score of 40 to 25, their largest success to date against the Blacks. Enough to give hope to the French public, who dreams of seeing the repetition of this victory this Friday night for the opening of the Rugby World Cup.