All Blacks French-fried in Dunedin

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The All Blacks have started their 2009 international campaign in losing style, being badly exposed in their 27-22 defeat to France.

A general lack of experience and the All Blacks' make-shift loose forward trio were found out in the Iveco Series test at Carisbrook.

The iconic Dunedin ground was long known as the 'House of Pain' for touring sides.

However, the All Blacks have now lost their past two tests in succession on its hallowed turf.

The All Blacks' own failings were magnified by some confusing calls from Irish referee George Clancy, especially at scrum-time.

The All Blacks had the first crack with ball in hand, however, the French were able to out-hustle the All Blacks' rookie loose forward trio to gain a breakdown turnover.

France moved upfield and then wasted little time in unleashing their maul, with the All Blacks powerless to stop the forward shove.

Eventually they were penalised in their 22m, with Julien Dupuy successful with a shot at goal in the fourth minute.

The All Blacks were found out at the breakdown for a second time soon after the restart.

The mistakes kept coming from the All Blacks when Stephen Donald failed to pass the 22m line with a short restart, giving France a scrum 22 metres from the All Black try-line.

The All Blacks were eventually able to clear in the most sensational of ways.

After gaining their own turnover, Ma'a Nonu, Isaac Ross, Kieran Read and Isaia Toeava were involved in an outstanding counter-attack from inside their 22m.

By the time the movement broke down the All Blacks had travelled 80 metres down field.

The All Blacks then levelled the score in the 11th minute when French captain Thierry Dusautoir was penalised for taking out Donald late, with the All Black first-five landing the penalty.

Turnovers at the breakdown continued to haunt the All Blacks, being forced into some rapid defence after coughing the ball up in the French half 16 minutes in.

Their problems were magnified when Liam Messam threw a poor pass to Nonu, with the ball being knocked on.

From the resulting scrum France crossed for the first try of the night to Francois Trinh-Duc. Dupuy converted for a 10-3 lead.

The All Blacks' cause was further hindered when hooker Andrew Hore was forced off in the 18th minute with a rib injury.

The first 20 minutes featured an All Black team which failed to control the breakdown and defensively were very poor.

Trinh-Duc was unsuccessful with a dropped goal attempt in the 26th minute.

Mathieu Bastareaud was then cut down just short of the try-line.

However, it was a short reprieve for the All Blacks, with William Servat crossing for France's second try in the 30th minute. Dupuy converted.

The All Blacks were finally able to put some pressure on as the 33-minute mark neared, unleashing a succession of forward charges near the French try-line.

The French defence held out, with the All Blacks then turning to the backs. But the hard work of the forwards was ruined by a Toeava clanger.

But it wasn't just the All Blacks' errors that were halting their progress, with France outstanding on both attack and defence.

Donald eventually narrowed the gap to 17-6 in the 39th minute.

And they got themselves further back into the match as the halftime hooter sounded, with Jimmy Cowan unleashing a beautiful chip-kick which was regathered by Cory Jane.

The left wing then showed his skill to commit the French defence, before freeing Messam to score. Donald was unable to convert from out wide.

France had a 17-11 lead at the break.

The All Blacks started with a greater intensity from the restart, being able to show some much-needed ball retention.

However, a penalty for holding on allowed France to clear the danger from their 22m.

While the All Blacks had a greater share of the possession stakes, they were consistently unable to breach the French defence.

Donald further closed the gap in the 51st minute with his third penalty.

He had the chance to level the scores with a fourth penalty from a handy range but was unsuccessful.

He finally levelled the scores at 17-17 in the 58th minute.

The All Black coaching staff continued to go to their bench as the final 20 minutes of the match began, with Luke McAlister and Tanerau Latimer being brought on.

Dupuy then missed a penalty attempt.

However, he was on target in the 70th minute as France reclaimed the lead.

With time running out the All Blacks continued to attack.

However, they were effectively dealt a killer blow when McAlister passed to French fullback Maxime Medard, with the flyer going on to sprint 60m for the match-winnng try.

Dupuy's conversion extended the lead to 27-17.

Nonu crossed for the All Blacks with six minutes remaining, however, Donald was unable to convert.

The All Blacks have plenty to work on ahead of the second test against France in Wellington next Saturday night.

FRANCE 27 (F Trinh-Duc, W Servat, M Medard tries; J Dupuy 3 con, 2 pen), ALL BLACKS 22 (L Messam, M Nonu tries; S Donald 4 pen). HT: 17-11.