Through its president Florian Grill, the French Rugby Federation announced that it was declining New Zealand's offer to play one of the tests in the United States this summer.
There will be no match in the United States for the Blues this summer. While the New Zealand federation had proposed to the French XV that one of the three July test matches between the Blacks and the Blues takes place in Uncle Sam's countryFlorian Grill announced the refusal of the French. “After discussions with our medical teams and our staff, we decided to answer no.”assured the president of the FFR to our colleagues from the Team. The latter gave the reasons for this decision: “There would have been a double time difference, first to go to New Zealand and then to go to the United States. And what's more, there is a change of season. We don't want to multiply the injuries. All three matches will take place in New Zealand.”
A tour without “premium” players
While the motivations for playing such a match in the United States were primarily economic, the New Zealand federation learned of the tricolor refusal by a letter. A disappointment for the Blacks who intended to take advantage of this meeting to attract new sponsors. The New Zealanders, who should play the three tests against a French XV devoid of its “premium” players, will still play a prestigious match in the United States in November 2025. It will be against Ireland.
