Laporte gracious in defeat

France coach Bernard Laporte was gracious in his teams' brave 42-11 defeat to New Zealand at Eden Park on Saturday and has hailed the All Blacks as favourites for the World Cup.

Graham Henry's New Zealand side never quite got into second gear against a weak French team in the opening test in Auckland, but Laporte was rich in his praise of the All Blacks.

He had little option after watching his side concede more than 40 points to New Zealand for the third time in four years.

"It's quite obvious that they (New Zealand) are the favourites for the World Cup," said Laporte.

"They are the best team and they have the best players in most positions.

"But it doesn't mean that if you start a grand prix in pole position that you are going to win the grand prix."

The French were on the back foot from the outset but were courageous in defence and kept several definate five-pointers from beeing scored thanks to some outstanding commitment from a side that lacked game-time together.

"We were very tired and we took a lot of knocks," Laporte said.

"The All Blacks were far superior. But we were very courageous. We showed guts and everyone played very well ... there were 11 of the 22 players making their debuts."

Laporte said he was likely to give his side the next 48 hours off to rest and get over their knocks and jetlag. They had escaped the match without serious injuries.