France 16 Australia 59:AUSTRALIA, WITH a mix of youth and speed, showed they could be a fearsome opponent at next year's World Cup when they handed France a record defeat with a seven-try performance at the Stade de France on Saturday.
The Wallabies ended the November Tour in style with their speed too much to handle for the hosts, who collapsed after the break and looked vulnerable ahead of next year’s World Cup. It was France’s worst ever loss to Australia after their 40-10 reverse in Brisbane two years ago.
“I think we had this coming for us for a while,” Australia head coach Robbie Deans said after his side, thrashed by England two weeks ago, tore the French apart.
The damage was done by Adam Ashley-Cooper, Benn Robinson, Will Genia, Drew Mitchell (3) and James O’Connor who all went over the line to score for the tourists.
“We are a young squad but tonight we were realistic enough and overall, despite that defeat against England, it has been a good tour for us,” added Deans.
France scored with a penalty try and three penalties by Morgan Parra but it was little consolation after the Australians celebrated again following their defeat of Italy last Saturday.
France coach Marc Lievremont was at a loss to explain the thrashing. “It is hard to find a reasonable explanation after such a rout,” he said. Captain Thierry Dusautoir said France cracked when Australia scored two tries in quick succession after the break. “Mentally, we just collapsed after they scored these tries,” he said. Deans added: “It was a turning point in the game. We all know the importance of the 14-point barrier in that game.”
The contest was billed as France’s powerful pack versus Australia’s speed and, while the visitors suffered at the scrum, they were too hot for France as temperatures fell below zero. France, boasting their trademark powerful pack and their huge backline with Damien Traille, Yannick Jauzion and Aurelien Rougerie at 10, 12 and 13, were on the back foot from the start.
O’Connor, who missed the previous Test due to personal leave, whizzed through the midfield and put Ashley-Cooper over under the posts, with O’Connor adding the extras. Parra cut the deficit with a penalty in the home side’s first attack, only for O’Connor to restore a seven-point lead with another penalty as Les Bleus were caught offside. Parra’s 40-metre penalty struck the post but the Clermont number nine soon kicked another one to trim the gap. However, Australia were too lively for France, who were pulled up for offside yet again for O’Connor to slot over.
The French, though had their monster scrum to rely on and and they did so at the half-hour mark.
The Wallabies popped up the scrum, then pulled it down and France were eventually rewarded when they got a penalty try with Parra slotting over a routine conversion to level the contest.
It got even worse for Australia as they had prop Ben Alexander sin-binned in the process. However, the tourists continued to unsettle the French defence with nicely built attacks and deft kicks.
A Parra penalty early in the second half put France ahead for the first time but two tries in quick succession gave Australia the edge. For once, their scrum stood firm with Rocky Elsom and Ashley-Cooper coming within centimetres of the line, and loose head Benn Robinson powered over.
Then Will Genia picked up the ball from the ruck following a couple of hand-offs by Ashley-Cooper as Australia got a grip on the game, with O’Connor adding another penalty to make it 30-16.
France were by now struggling to keep pace and Drew Mitchell powered down the left wing to touch down, doubling his tally shortly afterwards.
Mitchell completed a hat-trick when Rougerie dislodged the ball from Elsom’s hands as the Australian was trying to touch down. Mitchell had followed his captain and grabbed his third try on a memorable night for the tourists.
O’Connor added five points to his kicking tally in the dying minutes as he dived over following a rush down the right flank.
FRANCE: Porical; Huget, Rougerie, Jauzion, Palisson; Traille, Parra; Domingo, Servat, Mas, Pierre, Thion, Dusautoir, Ouedraogo, Chabal. Replacements: Guirado for Servat 35 mins, Schuster for Domingo 54 mins, Millo-Chluski for Thion 64 mins, Bonnaire for Chabal 61 mins, Yachvili for Parra 72 mins, Estebanez for Jauzion 54 mins, Andreu for Palisson 42 mins.
AUSTRALIA: Beale; O'Connor, Ashley-Cooper, Barnes, Mitchell; Cooper, Genia; Slipper, Moore, Alexander, Simmons, Sharpe, Elsom, Pocock, McCalman. Replacements: Polota-Nau for Moore 72 mins, Robinson for McCalman 36-40 mins, Robinson for Alexander 40 mins, Chisholm for Sharpe 66 mins, Higginbotham for McCalman 64 mins, Burgess for Genia 70 mins, Giteau for Barnes 70 mins, Turner for Ashley-Cooper 75 mins.
Referee: Bryce Lawrence(New Zealand).
