They were not helped by having prop Keith Meeuws, fullback Christian Cullen and center Mark Robinson all sin-binned by Australian referee Scott Young in the 10th, 30th and 40th minutes and fell behind to a try by flanker Olivier Magne.
However, Meeuws burrelled over for the Kiwis after coming back on and Andrew Mehrtens and Gelez kicked five points each to make it 10-10 at the break.
Center Tana Umaga broke clear to put put New Zealand ahead and Mehrtens landed another penalty to make it 20-10.
Nicolas Brusque slid over for a second French try and 21-year-old Gelez levelled the match at 20-20 with a 78th-minute penalty.
However, the 21-year-old will remember only his injury time troubles when he looks back on this match.
Wales could only offer a scrappy win over Canada by way of a farewell to Scott Quinnell, who was to retire after earning his 52nd cap as a replacement yesterday.
Tries from hooker Robin McBryde and center Jamie Robinson plus 22 points from a flawless kicking display by Stephen Jones gave Wales the victory, but it was far from the convincing win they had wanted before facing the All Blacks next week.
Italy, as so often before, took an early 6-0 lead with two Diego Dominguez penalties in Rome, but were then overwhelmed as Argentina hit back strongly with tries by Jose Orengo and Ignacio Corletto to lead 15-6 at the break.
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