1994 France rugby union tour of Canada and New Zealand


The 1994 France rugby union tour of Canada and New Zealand was a series of matches played in June and July 1994 in Canada and New Zealand by France national rugby union team. In typical French fashion,, they lost to Canada, a "Tier 2" Rugby playing nation, and then became the first Northern Hemisphere test side to win a test match series in New Zealand, who are the most dominant rugby side in history.
France became the fifth and most recent team after the 1937 Springboks, 1949 Wallabies, 1971 British Lions and 1986 Wallabies to win a test series in New Zealand.

Matches

Opposing TeamForAgainstDateVenueStatus
Canada A34311 June 1994TorontoTour match
Canada16184 June 1994NepeanTest match
North Auckland28239 June 1994WhangareiTour match
North Harbour232712 June 1994AucklandTour match
Waiparapa Bush53915 June 1994MastertonTour match
New Zealand B332518 June 1994WanganuiTour match
Nelson Bays481622 June 1994NelsonTour match
New Zealand22826 June 1994Lancaster Park, ChristchurchTest match
Hawke's Bay253029 June 1994McLean Park, NapierTour match
New Zealand23203 July 1994Eden Park, AucklandTest match

Highlights

The 22–8 victory on 26 June was the biggest win by France over New Zealand up to then. In the second test, on 3 July, New Zealand led 20–16 with three minutes of the match remaining. As they tried to run down the clock, Philippe Saint-André started a move in his own 22 which, 65 seconds later, ended with Jean-Luc Sadourny crossing the French line to score what became known as l'essai du bout du monde, giving them a 23–20 victory. It was the first time a side from the northern hemisphere had won a test series against the All Blacks.