DUNEDIN, New Zealand (AP) — A French team lacking most of the leading players from its recent Six Nations victory fully stretched New Zealand before succumbing 31-27 in the first test on Saturday to trail 1-0 in the three-test series.

France was a massive underdog with eight new caps in its lineup against the proven combinations of the three-time world champions.

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But France scored the first 10 points of the match, including the opening try through Mickael Guillard, and stuck with the All Blacks throughout, counter-punching every time New Zealand scored.

Critics had angrily condemned France’s decision to leave most of its top players at home because the tour of New Zealand conflicted with the end of the French club season. A mostly young and inexperienced French team fully answered those criticisms on Saturday.

“There was a lot of outside noise saying we’d come out, we’d take 50, we didn’t have the strength to play against a team like that,” France’s Canada-born lock Tyler Duguid said. “We showed a lot of spirit tonight. We knew we’d come out with a lot of intensity and come out all together and what we lack in experience we can bring out with some spirit.”

France won most of the mini battles within the match: in the air, at the breakdown and in the collisions, while the All Blacks produced another spiritless performance under head coach Scott Robertson.

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The All Blacks looked best when they were able to lift the tempo, as they did to score tries through fullback Will Jordan and backrower Tupuo Vaa’i to take their first lead in the match at 14-10.

But they were unable to keep that up through the match because of frequent errors and the resilience of the French defense.

Jordan scored a second try and center Jordie Barrett also touched down. But the All Blacks had tries disallowed to Barrett, Jordan and center Billy Proctor. Barrett’s try put the All Blacks ahead 21-13 at halftime.

France scored through Gabin Villiere to start the second half after the All Blacks spilt the restart.

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And when Jordan put the All Blacks ahead 28-20, France responded again through Cameron Woki who restored the one-point margin. At that point the All Blacks were forced into the humbling position of having to shoot for goal to establish a safe four-point to avoid being vulnerable to a late penalty.

“It was quite tight towards the end,” All Blacks captain Scott Barrett said. “We certainly created enough opportunities did well to hang into the game and it went right down to the wire.”

The All Blacks lost winger Sevu Reece to a head knock in the first minute of the match and had to reorganize their backline with Damian McKenzie coming in at fullback.

But that was little excuse for the disorganized, undisciplined and error-ridden performance they produced. The All Blacks lacked physicality and leadership as they have done repeatedly under Robertson’s coaching.

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The French pack was superb and they were inspired by outstanding performances among the backs from fullback Theo Attisogbe, who was constantly elusive, and centers Emilien Gailleton and Gael Fikou. All three of those backs were instrumental in France’s first try.

Lock Fabian Holland, the first player from the Netherlands to play for the All Blacks, had a strong debut and Vaa’i also was consistent. The All Blacks backline lacked coherence and may need rearrangement before the next test.

The teams meet against in Wellington next Saturday and in Hamilton a week later.

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AP rugby: https://apnews.com/hub/rugby