Fehi Fineanganofo fights tears, nerves on All Blacks debut

All Blacks' winger and debutante Fehi Fineanganofo had to hold back tears as he greeted his whanau following New Zealand's 34-32 win over France in Christchurch.

A trio of new All Blacks were blooded in the first test of the year against France - Fineanganofo, prop Xavier Numia and, in a last hour call up, lock Jamie Hannah in front of his home crowd.

Pulling on an All Blacks jersey for the first time brings a heavy emotional weight and sometimes a bit of nausea, Fineanganofo said.

"[My family] couldn't stop crying and I was just trying to keep strong there and not cry outside.

"I'll cry back in the changing room."

He also tried and failed to hold back his lunch, after the nerves got to him at halftime.

"I didn't think I'd be that nervous, I was sitting on the bench and nearly vomiting. At halftime I was in the toilet spewing, I felt better after it."

Fineanganofo, like so many young kiwis, dreamt of one day donning the famous black threads.

"I couldn't believe it at first, but once I got on, I just couldn't stop thinking about family and how proud they would be."

A late replacement for Patrick Tuipulotu, Hannah didn't have to endure a sleepless night thinking about his debut.

"It all lined up pretty unreal. All my friends and family already had tickets. It's all happened so fast so there hasn't been much processing time. I only sort of found out I was in at lunchtime, in a way it was good. I was just straight in there and straight into it."

A born and bred Cantabrian, Hannah's debut was made even more special as he got to do it on home turf.

"It's a childhood dream. To get the opportunity to do it in front of my friends and family was just unreal."

Both men say they had to quickly adjust to the speed and intensity of test rugby.

"A huge step, but the boys helped me out. I just found my footing and it was good. It's a lot faster, so I had to get back quickly," Fineanganofo said.

As for whether tonight's taste of test footy would be enough to convince him to stay in Aotearoa and reneg on his Newcastle contract, Fineanganofo would not bite but is relishing the challenge of chasing a starting jersey for the All Blacks.

"I'll accept any (jersey number), but it's good competition. It keeps us on our feet, and I think it's what makes us play at our best."

For one of the more established All Blacks, Peter Lakai felt it was a slightly sloppy performance, albeit a satisfying result.

"A few things to work on, but we're happy to start our campaign off with a win. Obviously a few things to polish off. We scored some brilliant tries, but we also let in a few soft ones as well. It's just polishing."

Lakai was named in the somewhat unfamiliar position of blindside, having played the most of his international rugby at number eight.

"There's not much difference to eight and seven other than the numbers on the back, it felt great."

Lakai admitted to feeling "a bit nervy" in the final seconds as the All Blacks held a two point lead with time ticking away.

"They scored that try in the 77th minute, but the boys did well to close the game out. Test match footy is going to be tight and it's going to be won on small margins. It's our first test of the year and we're obviously going to be a little bit rusty, but to come away with the win is the main goal."