There will be no France – New Zealand in the United States. The idea considered by the New Zealand Federation of relocating this test match, the third and last of the All Blacks in July 2025, was rejected by his French counterpart, according to information from The Team . The NZR had informed the FFR of this project on the sidelines of the last opposition between the two teams (30-29 victory for the Blues in mid-November), motivated by economic interests, as it had done against Fiji in July (47-5) or in 2016 against Ireland (29-40 defeat).
“Our priority is the health of practitioners”
Fabien Galthié and his staff very quickly, internally, expressed their disapproval. The final decision was made this Wednesday, December 4, in the morning, within the strategic office (formerly federal office) of the Federation.
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“After discussions with our medical teams and our staff, we decided to answer noconfirmed the president of the FFR, Florian Grill, to the sports daily. 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 weighed the advantages and disadvantages. There were indeed some advantages including the promotion of rugby on American territory in anticipation of the 2031 World Cup but also a small bonus (financier) for the FFR, but despite our financial situation, our priority is the health of the practitioners. We don't want to multiply the injuries. All three matches will take place in New Zealand. »
France
