Will Jordan’s night at fullback lasted all of 58 seconds after an injury to Sevu Reece saw the No.15 move to the familiar right wing position for the rest of the night.
The 27-year-old finished with two tries, taking him past former fullback Ben Smith on the All Blacks all-time try scoring list with 40, and was denied a third over an alleged obstruction.
Jordan felt that the All Blacks ‘were in control’ through the second half despite the contest being a one-point game for a good half hour.
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“Typical game against the French from my experience,” Jordan said.
“Felt like we did enough to have a bit of a lead, but let in a couple of soft ones, they kicked a couple of long range goals, it was a bit of a fight the whole night.
“We played in the right area of the field in that second half, so we were in control for most of it, then a good D set to finish.
“Wasn’t our most clinical but I thought when we needed to, we were.”
The All Blacks dominated the possession stakes, making 182 carries to France’s 94, while making 13 line breaks to France’s four.
The French were limited to 38 per cent territory and possession throughout the match, forced to defend for long stretches.
Jordan admitted that the 27 points conceded to France was ‘too high’ on a night where they had little ball.
“If you score 31 points you want to be winning games and ultimately we did that,” Jordan said.
“27 is a number that might be a little bit too high. Probably just a couple of soft ones.
“When we got deep in phases, we did reasonably well. It was a couple ones where they went through easily, whether edges or through the middle. We’ll have a good look at that.”
