France's twice-weekly rugby newspaper Midi Olympique has dined out on their 40-25 win over the All Blacks in Paris at the weekend.
In an editorial, Midi Olympique said coach Fabien Galthié's side looked like 'ideal sons-in-law' compared to 'the dirty kids', who lost the 2011 Rugby World Cup final 7-8 to the All Blacks.
It said it was too early to assess how drained the All Blacks were at the end of their season, but there was relief for France in ending so many years of inconsistency.
By showing the All Blacks myth had faded, the win was pivotal in taking the French team, French rugby and the Rugby World Cup 2023 organisation, to a new dimension.
The win showed the Stade de France could be a rugby cauldron, and with good leadership, lack of egos and increased competition for places, the team was capable of instilling fear into their opponents while increasing their confidence, so long as they remained united ahead of the World Cup, it said.
Not only was it the first win over the All Blacks in Paris since 1973, but also the first at Stade de France, it said.
Winning the Dave Gallaher Trophy could be a forerunner to claiming the Webb Ellis Cup, but at the same time, there was the Six Nations to be considered, something France hasn't won since 2010.
Captain and halfback Antoine Dupont told the paper he couldn't believe what they achieved.
As a child, he had dreamed of playing the All Blacks but never beating them.
"This is quite amazing, because it does not happen often and has not happened for a long time. What is certain is that we continue to write our history and we have just passed an important mark against a very big team…This will remain etched in our memories," he said.
While they started at pace, Dupont said they knew it would be difficult to maintain that speed of game for 80 minutes and that the All Blacks would come back.
"But just seeing that we were able to manhandle them so much gave us confidence to carry on," he said.
The Test against the All Blacks had been on the players' minds throughout the autumn series. That made it difficult to focus on the earlier games, he said.
But he also said they could not get carried away with the win. Much hard work remained.
"Two years is a very long time in sports. If you look at where the Springboks were two years before their World Cup win in 2019, I'm not sure we would have bet a Euro on them. Let's say that we are on our way, that we are in a good position and are evolving well.
"But we know for a fact the French XV will be expected to perform like that every time. The goal has to be to maintain this kind of performance in each of our games.
"The next appointment is the Six Nations. That will show us even more about where we are in our evolution," he said.