New Zealand 12 France 8

There was more than a smack of irony when Kahu Tamatea fluffed the All Blacks' first ever conversion kick in 20 years of the World Rugby Classic.

It is unlikely there has been, or will be, a kick taken in such silence at the annual showpiece with even the schmoozers in the hospitality tents suspending cocktail sipping to witness a piece of history.

They need not have bothered though, with the ball thudding back off the right stick much to the light amusement of the swarms of spectators gathered at yesterday's curtain raiser.

But while the All Blacks have finally compromised their 'pass-and-run-only' principles by attempting to kick points, it was still those very fundamentals that fuelled their victory.

Alex Talea sprinted from deep inside his own half past a melee of challengers in the dying seconds, showcasing the merits of running rugby to snatch victory from an unfortunate France.

Fittingly, Jarrod Young proceeded to make history by converting the try to leave the French crestfallen. They had been just seconds away from victory.

"We got out of jail," said New Zealand's manager and former stalwart Andy Haden. "We missed our first ever attempt at a conversion but in the end it didn't matter. We didn't rely on kicked points. There's room for improvement and we will need to if we want to progress. There was some entertaining rugby with France scoring a try from their end and us scoring one from ours."

The rain that marred the preceding match between Australia and Argentina cleared by kick-off, encouraging a more entertaining brand of rugby, but still neither side could break the deadlock by half-time.

Hayden Scown powered his way over the line to give the Kiwi's the 5-0 lead in the second period, but Frank Comba swallowed up plenty of ground during a mazy run to strike back for France with an unconverted try to level.

Ironically, considering New Zealand's past steadfastness to kick any points, France then edged ahead through a drop-goal by Frank Cather. But in the last move of the match Talea's wonder-try set up a mouth-watering clash with old foes Australia in Wednesday's semi-final.

Today Canada take on on South Africa at 7 p.m, and Classic Lions play United States at 8.30 p.m.

Australia 22 Argentina 12

It may not have been easy on the eye but the opening game of the World Rugby Classic had plenty of thrills and spills with Australia edging past Argentina in extra time.

Two tries in quick succession during the first-period of overtime by James McCormack and Nathan Adshley exposed Argentina's battle-weary limbs to give the scoreline a slightly flattering look for the Wallabies.

For until a late try by Daniel Flannery, the brave Pumas looked set to advance from this extremely physical encounter, which left troops on both ranks battered, bruised and in some cases bloody.

"It was certainly a physical match," said a relieved Australia coach Richard Tombs. "The conditions (rainy) made it difficult to play passing rugby, so it was always going to be physical.

"I thought we played well in patches and started well enough. But then we seemed to go to sleep and allowed Argentina to gain a foothold. Importantly we came through in the end."

After normal time the teams were locked level at 12-12, but McCormack's bundled try and Adshley's twinkle-toed burst through the middle left the Pumas starring at defeat.

Requiring two quick scores to stay in the match they huffed and puffed during the final five-minutes of extra time, but rarely threatened with real conviction as the seconds on the clock ebbed away.

"It was a very close game, but we didn't take advantage of our opportunities when we were leading," said a downbeat Argentina manager Rodolfo Ventura. "Against a team like Australia you will eventually get punished if you don't take your chances. In the end they were the better side and deserved victory."

It was no surprise when the Aussies took the lead through Marco Caputo in the 12th minute, which was duly converted, with Tomb's men enjoying the superior swathes of possession.

But against the run of play Argentina struck back through a piece of virtuoso brilliance by Martin Murgier who collected his left-wing chip before crossing the line, leaving a trail of yellow and green bodies in his wake.

Santiago Meson may have missed the conversion, but the Argentinians went into half-time the stronger finishers and took the lead in the second period through Benjamin Bouise who charged down Nick Gregorski's clearance kick and followed up smartly to go over for a converted try.

But no Australian team is beaten until the final whistle and Flannery sent the game into a thrilling extra time, scoring an unconverted try towards the end of normal play.