Rebuilt France team on track with win over New Zealand in opener

When Fabien Galthie took charge of France after a mediocre 2019 World Cup, his one obsession was rebuilding a squad able to take a shot at the title four years later and Friday's 27-13 win against New Zealand suggests Les Bleus are on the right track.

"We started ... rebuilding this team four years ago and the idea was to unite and share, not just the team but more than the team, and we still have this same idea," Galthie told a press conference.

France were unusually timid in the first half before getting into their stride as four years of hard work paid off at the Stade de France, with Damian Penaud and Melvyn Jaminet scoring a try each.

"We didn't control the game in the first half, we were taken in a bit by the atmosphere," Galthie said, referring to the more than 78,000 strong crowd who cheered throughout the night.

"In a World Cup game, especially on the opening day, I think what matters most is team spirit. That's what we have seen today," France general manager Raphael Ibanez said.

"Team spirit, togetherness that's something we rely on when we have to front up when we have tough times. That was the case today against a beautiful and fabulous All Blacks team but team spirit was the key tonight."

France had a rocky start as they conceded an early try and then lost their starting hooker Julian Marchand who went down with an injury and had to be taken off after initially getting his thigh wrapped.

"He's torn a muscle in his thigh while it was overextended ... We think it was a muscular problem ... He might take a couple of days (to recover)," Galthie said.

The game carried a tight scoreline for the first 56 minutes until France pulled away with their first try and conversion, going on to score 18 unanswered points to win.

"At halftime and on the field we talked about how we needed to hurry ourselves up," France captain Antoine Dupont said.

"We were under a lot of pressure at the beginning. We couldn't get through our phases and we wanted to play a bit more secure and that was easier for us after the talk we had at halftime and on the field (after the opening try of the second half)," Dupont added.

Reuters