All Blacks under pressure to improve in the 2nd test against France on Saturday

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — The All Blacks are at a crossroads as they head into Saturday’s second rugby test against France.

After a fumbling performance in the first test in which they needed a late penalty to hold out a severely weakened French team, players and coaching staff are under pressure to produce huge improvement in the second match at Wellington.

New Zealand was expected to easily beat a French team stripped of most of its Six Nations stars. Instead, it struggled to assert any dominance, losing the aerial contest and at the breakdown.

Head coach Scott Robertson has laid down a challenge to players by naming a lineup which has only been changed in response to injuries. In doing so, he has placed pressure on players who under-performed last week to win more convincingly.

“I think the narrative has changed a little bit around what team they’ve brought,” Robertson said. “We’re focusing a little bit on continuity.

"We want to give the players a chance to build their combinations. This is three-test series. We’ve got one down and there’s a big one on Saturday.”

Pressure will begin to come on Robertson if the All Blacks are unable to step up to a higher level on Saturday. Robertson lost four tests in his first season in charge and promised improvement this year. He may be called to account if he cannot produce it.

However, not all the blame rests with the coach. Once again there is clear evidence that Super Rugby is not preparing Australian and New Zealand players for test matches. Australia also struggled in its first test of the season against Fiji.

France has made 10 changes to its starting lineup for Saturday’s second test. Head coach Fabien Galthie has been able to bring in five players who missed last weekend’s test after being involved in the final of the French Top 14 club competition.

The only players to retain their places in the starting lineup from the first test are Theo Attissogbe, who moves from fullback to the wing, Emilien Gailleton who moves from center to wing, flyhalf Joris Segonds, scrumhalf Nolann Le Garrec and hooker Gaetan Barlot who will captain the team.

Four players in the starting lineup will make their test debuts, all of them in the forward pack. The France starting lineup cumulatively has only 50 test caps.

The teams play their third and final test July 19 at Hamilton.

Fiji head coach Mick Byrne says his team is capable of competing with Tier One nations and is ready to prove it again when it plays Scotland on Saturday.

Bryne said Fiji’s narrow loss to Australia last weekend shows its players are able to perform under pressure. Fiji produced a strong second half performance against the Wallabies before losing 21-18.

“I think we showed last week that we can mix it with the best teams in the world,” Byrne said. “Handling pressure is something the players do all the time and they showed it last week."

Scotland is coming off a narrow win over the New Zealand Maori last weekend as it heads into the second match of its Pacific tour.

Japan hopes to make history by beating Wales in the second test at Kobe on Saturday.

The Brave Blossoms won the first test 24-19 and now hope to achieve their first back-to-back wins over a Tier One nation.

“Japan has never had a record of beating a top-tier team back-to-back so we’ve got a chance to create history,” Japan head coach Eddie Jones said. “But the more important thing for us is that we know we can play better.”

Michael Leitch, 36, again will lead Japan while France-based scrumhalf Naoto Saito returns to the starting lineup. Ichigo Nakakusu and Halatoa Vailea, who came off the bench to score tries in the first test, have been named to start on Saturday.

Wales will attempt to avoid its 19th successive test defeat. Dan Edwards will make his first test start at outside center, Freddie Thomas will join the starting lineup at lock and Archie Griffin comes in at prop.

Aaron Wainwright will replace in the injured Toby Faletau in the backrow.

AP rugby: https://apnews.com/hub/rugby

Gaetan Barlot of France celebrates after scoring a try against New Zealand in Dunedin, New Zealand, Saturday, July 5, 2025. (Marty Melville/Photosport via AP)

Romain Taofifenua of France loses the ball forward as he is tackled by New Zeakand's Quinn Tupaea during their rugby test in Dunedin, New Zealand, Saturday, July 5, 2025. (Marty Melville/Photosport via AP)

Jacobus Van Tonder of France and teammate Killian Tixeront, left, react following of their rugby test against New Zealand in Dunedin, New Zealand, Saturday, July 5, 2025. (Marty Melville/Photosport via AP)

Tupou Vaa'i of New Zealand run sat the defence during their rugby test against France in Dunedin, New Zealand, Saturday, July 5, 2025. (Marty Melville/Photosport via AP)

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump is meeting with oil executives at the White House on Friday in hopes of securing $100 billion in investments to revive Venezuela’s ability to fully tap into its expansive reserves of petroleum — a plan that rides on their comfort in making commitments in a country plagued by instability, inflation and uncertainty.

Since the U.S. military raid to capture former Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro on Saturday, Trump has quickly pivoted to portraying the move as a newfound economic opportunity for the U.S., seizing tankers carrying Venezuelan oil, saying the U.S. is taking over the sales of 30 million to 50 million barrels of previously sanctioned Venezuelan oil and will be controlling sales worldwide indefinitely.

On Friday, U.S. forces seized their fifth tanker over the past month that has been linked to Venezuelan oil. The action reflected the determination of the U.S. to fully control the exporting, refining and production of Venezuelan petroleum, a sign of the Trump administration's plans for ongoing involvement in the sector as it seeks commitments from private companies.

It's all part of a broader push by Trump to keep gasoline prices low. At a time when many Americans are concerned about affordability, the incursion in Venezuela melds Trump’s assertive use of presidential powers with an optical spectacle meant to convince Americans that he can bring down energy prices.

The meeting, set for 2:30 p.m. EST, will be open to the news media, according to an update to the president's daily schedule. “At least 100 Billion Dollars will be invested by BIG OIL, all of whom I will be meeting with today at The White House,” Trump said Friday in a pre-dawn social media post.

Trump is set to meet with executives from 17 oil companies, according to the White House. Among the companies attending are Chevron, which still operates in Venezuela, and ExxonMobil and ConocoPhillips, which both had oil projects in the country that were lost as part of a 2007 nationalization of private businesses under Maduro’s predecessor, Hugo Chávez.

The president is meeting with a wide swath of domestic and international companies with interests ranging from construction to the commodity markets. Other companies slated to be at the meeting include Halliburton, Valero, Marathon, Shell, Singapore-based Trafigura, Italy-based Eni and Spain-based Repsol.

Large U.S. oil companies have so far largely refrained from affirming investments in Venezuela as contracts and guarantees need to be in place. Trump has suggested on social media that America would help to backstop any investments.

Venezuela’s oil production has slumped below one million barrels a day. Part of Trump's challenge to turn that around will be to convince oil companies that his administration has a stable relationship with Venezuela’s interim President Delcy Rodríguez, as well as protections for companies entering the market.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Energy Secretary Chris Wright and Interior Secretary Doug Burgum are slated to attend the oil executives meeting, according to the White House.

Meanwhile, the United States and Venezuelan governments said Friday they were exploring the possibility of r estoring diplomatic relations between the two countries, and that a delegation from the Trump administration arrived to the South American nation on Friday.

The small team of U.S. diplomats and diplomatic security officials traveled to Venezuela to make a preliminary assessment about the potential re-opening of the U.S. Embassy in Caracas, the State Department said in a statement.

Trump also announced on Friday he’d meet with President Gustavo Petro in early February, but called on the Colombian leader to make quick progress on stemming flow of cocaine into the U.S.

Trump, following the ouster of Maduro, had made vague threats to take similar action against Petro. Trump abruptly changed his tone Wednesday about his Colombian counterpart after a friendly phone call in which he invited Petro to visit the White House.

President Donald Trump waves as he walks off stage after speaking to House Republican lawmakers during their annual policy retreat, Tuesday, Jan. 6, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)