Australia v France:FRANCE HAVE vowed to launch an all-out attack on Australia in their first Test at the Olympic Stadium in Sydney today. The French have been forced to pick a weakened team for the match because most of their top players are involved in the national club championships.
They believe, though, that a makeshift team may be liberated rather than restricted by the challenge. Scrumhalf Dimitri Yachvili, one of the few seasoned internationals in the side, said the tourists had been given permission by their coach Marc Lievremont to chance their arm and throw the ball around.
"(There are) no restrictions. (Our backs) are going to play as themselves and we don't have to put pressure on them," Yachvili said. "We just have to help them to play with their head in good positions."
France have a long history of winning matches when the odds are heavily stacked against them and Australia captain Stirling Mortlock said the Wallabies were wary of their giant-killing reputation. Mortlock also said it had been hard to prepare for the match because the Australians knew little about some of the new French faces.
Yachvili said the French were all very accomplished players. "Although they are not very well known internationally, in our championship they are good players," he said.
Australia have promised to try and play a more attractive brand of rugby in the hope of winning back disgruntled fans.
Just a few years ago, the Wallabies were arguably Australias most popular sporting team, pulling in massive crowds in excess of 100,000, but those days have disappeared. Less than 45,000 tickets have been sold for today's game at the 83,000-capacity Olympic Stadium, just six days after the national soccer team drew nearly 75,000 fans for a dead-rubber World Cup qualifier against China.
Australian Rugby Union (ARU) officials are so concerned about the team's declining popularity they have resorted to the unprecedented step of giving away tickets at shopping malls.
"Ticket sales have not been quite as bullish as we might have hoped and we've still got plenty left," said ARU chief executive John O'Neill.
Mortlock said the players had also been trying to help in promoting the game.
O'Neill, who agreed to return and head up the sport this season after running soccer for the past three years, is hoping the appointment of New Zealand's Robbie Deans as coach will improve the Wallabies' fortunes.
They abandoned their traditional running game for a failed attempt to try and match England's superior forward play and paid a hefty price at last year's World Cup for a conservative selection policy of sticking with players past their prime.
The Wallabies made an encouraging start in their first match under Deans when they beat Ireland 18-12 in Melbourne two weeks ago. but Mortlock said the players knew they had to play even better against the French.
AUSTRALIA:Cameron Shepherd; Peter Hynes, Stirling Mortlock (capt), Berrick Barnes, Lote Tuqiri; Matt Giteau, Luke Burgess; Benn Robinson, Stephen Moore, Al Baxter, James Horwill, Nathan Sharpe, Rocky Elsom, George Smith, Wycliff Palu.
Replacements: Adam Freier, Ben Alexander, Dean Mumm, Phil Waugh, Sam Cordingley, Ryan Cross, Adam Ashley-Cooper.
FRANCE:Pepito Elhorga; Alexis Palisson, Damien Traille, Francois Trinh-Duc, Sebastien Thiery; Benjamin Boyet, Dmitri Yachvili; Benoit Lecouls, Sebastien Bruno, Lionel Faure, Lionel Nallet (capt), Sebastien Chabal, Imanol Harinordoquy, Louis Picamoles, Fulgence Ouedraogo,
Replacements: Benjamin Kayser, Renaud Boyoud, David Couzinet, Matthieu Lievremont, Sebastien Tillous-Borde, Thibault Lacroix, David Janin.
