France have beaten the All Blacks 30-29 in Paris this morning - the third time in a row they have beaten New Zealand - and it came via a remarkable second-half comeback.

The loss represents the first All Blacks' setback on their northern tour after excellent wins over England and Ireland and it came with the usual dose of controversy with regards to the decision making by the match officials who made several debatable late calls in favour of France.

Overall, though, the home side probably did enough to deserve the victory at a boisterous Stade de France - they outscored the All Blacks three tries to two (scoring two of their tries in the second half) and they defended with a commitment and intensity after the break that the visitors had little answer to.

It was quite the turnaround because the French appeared fatigued at the end of the first half, the All Blacks taking a 17-10 lead to halftime and dominating the set piece and attack, but the home side rallied brilliantly, scoring two tries.

The most damaging was the second score which was effectively a 14-pointer when the ball failed to find the flying Will Jordan - France wing Louis Bielle-Biarrey taking advantage at the other end.

It gave France a seven-point lead after Paul Boudehent had scored from a well-worked lineout drive and the All Blacks were playing catch-up rugby.

They bent and occasionally broke the home side’s defensive line but they simply couldn’t make it stick – the most costly miss was Rieko Ioane’s drop from a Beauden Barrett pass in the final minutes when the All Blacks had built a momentum that had appeared to be decisive. It was not to be.

Damian McKenzie’s three penalties kept the All Blacks close but they couldn’t land the final blow, a state not helped by the officiating and several controversial decisions that handed late points and momentum to the French.

Hooker Codie Taylor was harshly penalised for “blocking” a kick-chaser, prop Ofa Tu’ungafasi was penalised for a neck roll which bore little resemblance to one, and replacement halfback Cortez Ratima gave up a scrum for not using the ball quickly enough in a ruck despite the ball not appearing to be available to use.

What will annoy coach Scott Robertson, who has seen his hopes of a clean sweep on this northern tour dashed, the most is that the decisions were made by a combination of television match official and referee Nika Amashukeli with little consistency.

There was drama throughout as both teams looked to use the ball and it came after only 90 seconds with Samipeni Finau off with a head injury, replaced by flanker Peter Lakai who put in an excellent shift and finished off a remarkable first try in his second Test.

Jordan, Ardie Savea and Caleb Clarke all featured in the build-up, an early indication that the All Blacks had the ability to trouble France with their attack. They did so by keeping the ball in hand and stretching the French to the edges and such were the skills, decision-making and timing shown by the All Blacks that the result almost seemed like a foregone conclusion.

A shoulder to the midriff from Tupou Vaa’i on France linchpin Antoine Dupont was another sign of the All Blacks’ intent.

The visitors were destroying the French lineout and winning penalties from scrums and one such effort from the pack led to halfback Cam Roigard’s piece of brilliance when he picked the pocket of highly-regarded No.8 Gregory Alldritt.

Jordie Barrett’s departure with a head injury just before halftime was a blow, though, and while the All Blacks threatened to take the game away from France through their tempo and ambition, they couldn’t find the final pass.

Instead it was France, who, it must be said, were superb defensively in that second stanza and in particular the final quarter, who took the spoils.

France 30 (Romain Buros, Paul Boudehent, Louis Bielle-Biarrey tries; Thomas Ramos 3 pens, 3 cons)

All Blacks 29 (Peter Lakai, Cam Roigard tries; Beaduen Barrett 2 cons, pen, Damian McKenzie 4 pens)

Halftime: All Blacks 17-10