Fabien Galthie says it was a "special match" after France edged past New Zealand 30-29 on Saturday.
The All Blacks held the lead at half-time as tries from Peter Lakai and Cam Roigard helped put them 17-10 up, with Romain Buros powering over on his debut to keep France in touching distance.
However, the hosts flipped the script in the second half, coming out strong as Paul Boudehent dotted down after a powerful maul to help level the scoreline.
Louis Bielle-Biarrey then gave them the lead, and though Damien McKenzie's penalties kept the All Blacks on France's heels, Tomas Ramos also stayed perfect with his kicks, doing enough to help them record a third straight win over New Zealand.
Les Bleus had gone 14 games without a win against New Zealand prior to this run, while it is the first time since 1994-95 they have managed three in a row against their opponents.
Galthie was delighted with his players' focus to ensure they overcame the half-time deficit.
"It was a special match; we know the opponent. When you see the scenario of the match, winning by one point, it brings back memories," he told TF1.
"We have six years of experience with this team. For a few years, we have had arguments, we have identified how to play them, we are sticking to this roadmap. We had to keep our heads down.
"At half-time, we found solutions. It's a close call, but a point is a lot. I am very proud, this is the third time we have hosted them. Three times we have beaten them. We have confidence. They have given us weaknesses, cracks."
New Zealand, meanwhile, saw a five-game winning run ended as they suffered their first defeat since early September.
Ardie Savea admitted that they struggled against France's aggressiveness in the second half, and was disappointed they did not deal with the threat better.
"Extremely disappointed with ourselves not to win the game. We made silly mistakes. We turned the ball over to this French squad, which can punish us and they did. I'm pretty gutted," he told TNT Sports.
"Of course, you [have to credit France in the second half]. We felt like we were in control, and we were pretty accurate in the first half, but in the second half, we let them in the game.
"They applied pressure on us, and we couldn't handle it. Towards the end, we just got stuck in our line and we couldn't do it. I'm extremely disappointed but proud of the boys.
"We didn't hit our targets. We want to win everything, but we couldn't, and that's credit to the French squad, they're a quality side. We have to look in the mirror and see where we could've put the nail in the coffin because we didn't do that."
England 20-29 South Africa: Sprinboks hold on to edge thriller
England suffered a fifth consecutive loss as South Africa held on to clinch a thrilling 29-20 win at Twickenham on Saturday.
After an open first half, the Springboks dug deep in the second, with Cheslin Kolbe's try ensuring they got over the line.
It had started so well for England, who took the lead just four minutes in as Marcus Smith's dummied drop-goal gave Ollie Sleightholme the chance to cross.
South Africa took their chances when they came though, and three quickfire tries put them in control.
Grant Williams raced through a gap, leaving Freddie Steward behind, and though Smith's kick edged England in front again, Pieter-Steph du Toit and Kolbe kept the momentum with them.
Sam Underhill burrowed through to make it a two-point game at the break, but Kolbe scored the only try of the second half after Handre Pollard's penalty to put them out of sight.
An increasingly desperate England tried to fight back but struggled to find a way through their stubborn opponents as they suffered a third consecutive defeat in their autumn series.
Data Debrief: A worrying sight
England cannot seem to find a win at the moment, as they struggled to come up with ideas to try and get what would have been a first victory since June.
The good news for them is that their final match of the autumn campaign is against Japan, who they beat in their most recent triumph by 35 points.
As for South Africa, they have now won four of their last five matches against England (L1), including each of their last three.
Donnarumma: France can still hurt Italy without Mbappe
Gianluigi Donnarumma says Kylian Mbappe's absence will not make Italy underestimate France ahead of their top-of-the-table Nations League clash.
Both teams have already qualified for the quarter-finals, but top spot in Group A2 is still up for grabs.
Italy currently sit top of the pile, three points ahead of France, who they beat 3-1 in early September, but a win for Les Bleus could see them drop to second.
However, for the second international break in a row, France are without their captain, Mbappe, with Didier Deschamps insisting he made the decision to leave the Real Madrid forward out of the squad.
France are unbeaten in their last three games without Mbappe, winning two and drawing one, and though they struggled in front of goal against Israel in a 0-0 stalemate last time out, Donnarumma believes they will still pose a threat to the Azzurri.
"Yes, I don't know about the choices that are made in other squads. I don't know what happened, it's [Mbappe] certainly an important absence," Donnarumma told a press conference.
"I know Kylian, he is one of the strongest in the world and if he was here, he could have troubled us a lot, but there will be other players.
"I know all of them well, they have great quality, strong strikers like [Bradley] Barcola, [Randal] Kolo Muani and [Warren] Zaire-Emery, who play with me. Barcola is an incredible talent, so they have very strong substitutes who can bother us."
Italy are unbeaten in the Nations League, only dropping points in a 2-2 draw with Belgium in October after going down to 10 men.
It comes on the back of a disappointing Euro 2024 campaign in which they were knocked out in the round of 16 by Switzerland, winning just one game in their title defence.
However, Donnarumma believes Italy have found their rhythm again and have more in common with the Euro 2020 winning team.
"It's a healthy group, I'm starting to see the spirit of the old European Championship," he added. "They're all young guys who want to show what they can do, who want to wear this jersey.
"The difficult part is to continue these performances. Our goal now is to continue to improve, work and enjoy ourselves and entertain the fans."
Consistency key for Australia ahead of Wales Test
Australia scrum-half Tate McDermott says the Wallabies are still searching for consistency ahead of Sunday's Autumn International versus Wales in Cardiff.
Australia beat England on their travels for the first time since 2015 last week, with Max Jorgensen's last-gasp try sealing a dramatic 42-37 success.
However, Joe Schmidt's team have not won successive Tests since July, losing three in a row before their triumph at Twickenham.
The last time they were on the winning side, against Argentina in the Rugby Championship in August, they were then thumped 67-27 by the Pumas in the return fixture just a week later.
Speaking ahead of Sunday's game, McDermott called on the visitors to produce a repeat of last week's performance.
"We've had a couple of good wins this year – flashback to Argentina where we knocked them off in the first game, but a week later, we're a completely different team," said McDermott.
"The group in general has a feeling that repeatability is the biggest thing for us to move forward, and we've got to make sure of that.
"Backing up our performance against the English is crucial for us.
"It's a fresh page and while last week was a great moment, it's irrelevant because we've got a fierce Welsh team in our face, and we've got to make sure we're ready for them."
Schmidt has made six changes to Australia's XV for the game, with centre Joseph Suaalii among those to make way after impressing against England last time out.
Samu Kerevi returns to the lineup, with Jorgensen, Nic White, Allan Alaalatoa, Seru Uru and Will Skelton also introduced.
Wales, meanwhile, have made four alterations to the team that started last week's 24-19 loss to Fiji, with James Botham, Jac Morgan, Ellis Bevan and Tom Rogers the players introduced.
Coach Warren Gatland said: "We haven't thrown in the towel. We can only continue to work as hard as we've been doing and, hopefully, we'll get across the line.
"Do I believe in what we're doing? 100%. The conviction is there and if the conviction is there, it probably takes away a little bit of some of the noise that's coming towards us."
Wales team: Cameron Winnett, Tom Rogers, Max Llewellyn, Ben Thomas, Blair Murray, Gareth Anscombe, Ellis Bevan; Gareth Thomas, Dewi Lake (c), Archie Griffin, Will Rowlands, Adam Beard, James Botham, Jac Morgan, Aaron Wainwright.
Replacements: Ryan Elias, Nicky Smith, Keiron Assiratti, Christ Tshiunza, Tommy Reffell, Rhodri Williams, Sam Costelow, Eddie James.
Australia team: Tom Wright, Andrew Kellaway, Len Ikitau, Samu Kerevi, Max Jorgensen, Noah Lolesio, Nic White, Angus Bell, Matt Faessler, Allan Alaalatoa (c), Nick Frost, Will Skelton, Seru Uru, Fraser McReight, Rob Valetini.
Replacements: Brandon Paenga-Amosa, James Slipper, Zane Nonggorr, Lukhan Salakaia-Loto, Langi Gleeson, Tate McDermott, Ben Donaldson, Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii.
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