It was a swift and punishing introduction to test rugby for All Black lock Isaac Ross on Saturday night.
Ross was the only new cap in the starting All Black XV and admitted it was a huge lift in everything from playing in Super 14.
"It was at least 20% to 30% more than anything I'd played. In the first line-out I was getting elbows and punches in the head. That's a welcome to test footy," Ross said.
Ross said the speed of the game was way above Super 14 level and it was hard adjusting to it.
He had a good game in the line-out, as the All Blacks dominated that part of the game.
Ross said the French had good line speed in defence and slowed the ball down expertly.
"We practised what we thought they'd do but you have to bring a little bit more to the table than that."
A loss was not something he wanted to put on his rugby CV and it was now back to the drawing board to fix what went wrong.
"But you've got to hold that feeling of the loss. Because you know you don't want to have that feeling again."
Ross said the match had gone pretty much in a blur but it was still a buzz to get a first cap, albeit in a losing side.
Lock Bryn Evans and flanker Tanerau Latimer also got first caps, coming on in the second half, while another new boy, Lelia Masaga, did not make an appearance off the bench after only coming into the squad late on Thursday.
Winger Cory Jane said both backlines struggled to get through defences.
The French employed a rush defence that the All Blacks struggled to penetrate.
"The French backs looked sharp but didn't really get the ball wide," Jane said.
"Their defence was hard to get through. We knew what they were going to do but knowing it does not mean you get through it."
Jane, more a fullback, said he would play anywhere for the All Blacks.
He called to halfback Jimmy Cowan to chip the ball which led to the All Blacks' first try right on half-time.
Jane said he could see there was space behind the French pack, and he ran infield after nabbing the ball from the chip, to prevent being pushed to the sideline.
"I could see Liam [No 8 Messam] there and tried to set him up by bringing the fullback back into the middle of the park."
