World champions New Zealand have been toppled by France 18-17 in their inaugural WXV 1 appearance at Wellington's Sky Stadium.
Already behind at halftime, the Black Ferns were rocked by a straight red card to rookie prop Chryss Viliko midway through the second half, reducing them to 14 players, as they tried to make up their deficit.
Despite their predicament, the home side found a second wind and brought the contest to within a point in the dying moments, but could not fully bridge the gap.
Twelve months ago, the French were left distraught on Eden Park, after a missed penalty at the death cost them victory in a World Cup semi-final against New Zealand. Those scenes contrasted sharply with their display of joy at toppling their rivals in the rematch.
France struck first against the run of play, when centre Marine Menager loomed in the Ferns backline for an intercept in her own 22, sending winger Emilie Boulard the length of the field for a try.
New Zealand surged back onto the attack, with winger Ruby Tui breaking the defence and finding fullback Renee Holmes, before the forwards mounted a close-range assault that propelled No.8 Liana Mikaele-Tu'u across between the posts.
Winger Cyriell Banet put the French up again, after a scrum on halfway provided her with space down the right, where she swerved around Holmes to find the corner.
The Ferns forwards continued to build phases at the right end of the field, largely without reward, as France weathered the storm and extended their lead with a penalty.
Ahead 15-7 at the break, French first-five Morgane Bourgeois added another penalty after the restart, as handling errors continued to plague the home side. Holmes responded with a penalty to keep them in the contest.
They had another chance to narrow the deficit reversed, when Viliko was pinged for a clumsy head-on-head tackle that left her side shorthanded for the final 20 minutes. Her absence was never likely to assist any kind of comeback, but they made a late bid for victory that fell agonisingly short.
With starting prop Krystal Murray recalled to the field and Mikaele-Tu'u sacrificed, the underpowered NZ pack monstered their counterparts at the next scrum and winger Katelyn Vahaakolo chased down Tui's kick ahead to give the Ferns some hope - but it was not to be.
At the end of the day, the Kiwis spent 12 minutes inside the France 22 and forced their opponents into 210 tackle, but committed 15 handling errors that took the momentum out of their attack.
"We were down in their half a lot and didn't capitalise on the pressure we were putting them under," said captain Ruahei Demant. "We'll go back to the drawingboard, and there will be a lot of lessons and a lot of reflection, before we play Wales."
Earlier in the afternoon, Canada beat the Welsh 42-22, suggesting the Black Ferns can bounce back quickly from a setback that snapped a 17-game winning streak.
France 18 (Boulard & Banet tries; Bourgeois conversion & 2 penalties) New Zealand 17 (Mikaele-Tu'u & Vahaakolo tries; Holmes conversion & penalty, Demant conversion)
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