Bulldozer: Louis Picamoles
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France exacted revenge for the humiliation at the hands of the Wallabies two years ago with a dominant 33-6 victory at the Stade de France on Saturday.
The result brings an end to Australia's five-game winning streak against les Bleus and puts France in pole position in the chase for the all-important fourth place in the world rankings ahead of the World Cup pool draw next month.
France led 13-6 at the end of a scrappy first half highlighted by the home side's hard work on defence and their dominance at scrum time.
Indeed, Sekope Kepu was being worked over by Test debutant Yannick Forestier and it was off the back of an attacking scrum that French number eight Louis Picamoles could break to score the only try of the opening 40 minutes.
Fred Michalak set up Wesley Fofana for France's second try midway through the second half before the French scrum earned a penalty try - despite having changed their entire front row - as the Wallabies were held scoreless in the second half.
Michalak and Mike Harris traded early penalties as both sides look to move the ball around but failed to execute with any precision.
There were ominous signs for Australia as referee Nigel Owens awarded a series of penalties against the retreating Wallaby scrum five metres from their own line. Picamoles made sure the pressure told as he jogged over untouched.
Michalak landed the conversion to cap a solid start for les Bleus but Harris could cut the deficit at 10-6 after the French were caught offside to close the opening quarter.
With half time looming large, Michalak punished Kepu for not rolling away with a penalty and then landed a sucker-punch drop to give the hosts a 10-point lead at the interval.
Michalak was at the origin of France's second try as he stepped past Kurtley Beale to burst clear up the centre of the field before finding Wesley Fofana up in support for an easy finish.
Philippe Saint-André sent on the Clermont front row around the hour mark and it only served to augment to French ascendency at scrum time and the penalty try on 64 minutes came as no surprise.
Rob Simmons was extremely lucky not to get his marching orders for a tip tackle on Yannick Nyanga because none of the three officials could see the number on his back.
Australia came literally within inches of getting a try back but Morgan Parra did sterling work to get under the ball and hold it up.
Parra landed a final penalty to rub salt into the Wallabies' wounds, sending them to Twickenham with plenty to think about.
Man of the match: Michalak deserves a mention for his 15-point haul and try-creating break but we'll go with Louis Picamoles who was simply phenomenal with ball in hand. He went forward in every contact situation.
Moment of the match: The result had probably already been sealed for France by Fofana's try but the penalty try told a story itself and summed up a woeful night for the Wallaby front row.
Villain of the match: Rob Simmons for his (unpunished) spear tackle and the match officials for failing to take note of his number.
The scorers:
For France:
Tries: Picamoles, Fofana, Penalty try
Cons: Michalak 3
Pens: Michalak 2, Parra
Drop: Michalak
For Australia:
Pens: Harris 2
France: 15 Brice Dulin, 14 Wesley Fofana, 13 Florian Fritz , 12 Maxime Mermoz, 11 Vincent Clerc, 10 Frederic Michalak, 9 Maxime Machenaud, 8 Louis Picamoles, 7 Fulgence Ouedraogo, 6 Yannick Nyanga, 5 Jocelino Suta, 4 Pascal Papé (c), 3 Nicolas Mas, 2 Dimitri Szarzewski, 1 Yannick Forestier.
Replacements: 16 Benjamin Kayser, 17 Thomas Domingo, 18 Vincent Debaty, 19 Sébastien Vahaamahina, 20 Damien Chouly, 21 Morgan Parra, 22 Francois Trinh-Duc, 23 Yoann Huget.
Australia: 15 Mike Harris, 14 Adam Ashley-Cooper, 13 Ben Tapuai, 12 Pat McCabe, 11 Nick Cummins, 10 Kurtley Beale, 9 Nick Phipps, 8 Wycliff Palu, 7 Michael Hooper, 6 Dave Dennis, 5 Nathan Sharpe (captain), 4 Kane Douglas, 3 Sekope Kepu, 2 Tatafu Polota Nau, 1 Benn Robinson.
Replacements: 16 Stephen Moore, 17 James Slipper, 18 Paddy Ryan, 19 Rob Simmons, 20 Radike Samo, 21 Liam Gill, 22 Brett Sheehan, 23 Berrick Barnes.
Venue: Stade de France, Paris
Referee: Nigel Owens (Wales)
Assistant referees: John Lacey (Ireland), Neil Paterson (Scotland)
Television match official: Nigel Whitehouse (Wales)
Comments
Rosbif says...
@mlbp and lacroix. Thanks guys. I'm flattered. And, as the saying goes, flattery will get you everywhere!!
Funny though how the euphoria of last weekend is already turning into a nagging anxiety. Can the team do it again? Will we rest on our achievement? Do they need to be "fearful" to really perform?
By the way, I love the reference to Chopin vs ESPN commentary. Surely, only we French could do that kind of thing, and admit to it. Priceless!!
I totally agree with your back-row battle analysis mlbp. Fufu and especially Nyanga are a shade light and are built for speed. We saw almost no rolling mauls from either team last weekend. I doubt that will be the case vs Arg!! Maybe PSA will start with Chouly to counter the Arg threat there? Suta also played very well at 6 last weekend. I imagine Maestri will start if he's recovered from his back strain, so Suta could be an extra forward if PSA goes with only 2 backs on the bench, who knows?
Also, I thought Huget made a lot of positive contributions when he came on. So either Fofana or Fritz could get benched to make room for him to start?
We will see. Meanwhile, I continue to bite my fingernails....
:-)
Posted 11:31 13th November 2012
lacroix says...
Rosbif on the money as ever. PR should pay you to cover french rugby
a second viewing of this game (with slightly less Cornas this time) led me to conclude that whilst there were many positives theres a lot more to get right.
the espn commentary was so bad i turned it off for both viewings. second viewing i accompanied with Martha Argerich playing some Chopin...really rather pleasant and michalaks break for the fofana try was a lyrical thing of beauty, like argerich's piano. but i digress:
argentina will be a far more serious trial and since consistency has been a little lacking a double test for psa and france. can't wait - and i'll be at the match too.
Posted 08:59 13th November 2012
Trinats2 says...
Only missing Giena and Pocock ???
What about starters - Capt Howrwill, Timani, Alexander, Higgenbotham, Ioane, Cooper, O'Connor, and Horne.
I would say that constitutes a 2 string or B side that ran out this year.
Posted 20:30 12th November 2012
APV1 says...
@ Ramage - you need a word for whinging that isn't really whinging, but we all know is actually whinging? Perhaps it could be called, "Doing a Jonesy2"..?
A wounded Wallaby is still just a small kangaroo with a limp, so I'm not expecting anything magnificent from them next week. I think our strong (albeit, quite green) front row will have the better of them and that's where it starts.
The match up next week between Juan Martin Fernandez Lobbe and Louis Picamoles will be something to watch, for sure.
Posted 15:44 12th November 2012
mlbp says...
@Rosbif
Excellent analysis (as always). I also consider that France's attack has to improve, that the backs didn't play their best game against Australia and that Argentina will prove to be the real test.
Against the Wallabies France was good in the areas that Argentina is good too, so the match against the Pumas will be decided by the backs and the ability to attack from set pieces and not only broken play.
Nyanga and Ouedraogo will find it difficult in the tight against the likes of Farias Cabello, Fernandez Lobbe, Leguizamon or Leonardi. France will miss Dusautoir and Harinordoquy as 6 and 7. Picamoles now is the gem of the European backrowers and can balance things, though.
Mermoz and Fritz have to pass the ball to the wings and Dulin will be needed in attack in second phase ball, not only in counter attacks.
I am not so optimistic about France and their game. It was just a match. The real test is Argentina.
Posted 13:16 12th November 2012
chancer says...
Welcome back Freddie, some of us have always believed! Marchon Marchon.
Posted 13:00 12th November 2012
Rosbif says...
@gauca. I also watched the ESPN coverage and agree with your analysis. The commentators didn't appear to see what was unfolding (but they wouldn't be the first). My view, having re-watched the tape (which is going straight into my saved folder by the way!!) is that France's victory was based on some fairly simple stuff.
Good defence
Aggressive combat in the ruck/tacke area
Sound set piece, particularly scrum and re-starts
Territorial control with effective kicking game
Counter attack with good offloading
What we didn't really see was any first-phase attack, or any movement down the entire back-line. Did Clerc receive a single pass all night? Other than the try, did Fofana get the ball from his centres? Did Dulin join/break the line?
In other words, there is plenty for PSA to work on in attack. The ABs have all the above elements, but can also keep the ball with patience, through multiple phases, move the defence around, and ultimately score at will.
Fingers crossed for the Argentina game. Big set piece team. Massive in the combat. Aggressive defence. Very different prospect to Aus....
ALLEZ !!!
Posted 12:25 12th November 2012
Rosbif says...
@new_j4a. Ah mon ami, I'm in such a state of extended euphoria over the rugby, I might well be able to stomach the odd bottle of Coonawarra Cabernet.... a small price to pay methinks... :-)
Posted 12:08 12th November 2012
Waz4before says...
France to take 4th spot, Scotland and Ireland to battle it out for 8th and 9th spot ... Australia, problems all over ... new coach please!
Posted 09:42 12th November 2012
pierredelot1 says...
How great to be proved wrong. I had my doubts that this French team would perform, but its always a pleasure to see them out on the park in a confident mood. A little suprised to see that Michalak was so dominant, so often in the past he has failed to control his troops, I don't doubt his talent simply his modus operandi, although as a Toulouse supporter I've seen him dominate Top 14 matches. Picamole what can you say, he beat the Leicester back row pretty well single handed in a great display a few weeks ago, if he stays injury free, how good is he going to get. Owen simply refereed the scrums properly and the Aussies couldn't cope. They haven't been able to cope for years and whenevr a referee shows them no sympathy they get stuffed, just how it should be. I just hope the French can keep this up, because they entertain like no other team. Great for Rugby this one.
Posted 08:54 12th November 2012
apr7 says...
the french two first rows deserve a mention too!
Posted 06:25 12th November 2012
Bronco says...
Why is it so hard for the ARU to comprehend that if you pick a soft, fat front row (Stpehen Moore excepted), you will be dominated by the hard men at scrum time? They spent all Rugby Championship trying to bluff and trick their way around the All Blacks, Springboks and Pumas - did they think France weren't watching? Infuriating, as there are 'proper' front rowers in the Aussie network who don't get a go
Posted 01:43 12th November 2012
kybone says...
jonesy2- 'NH cant produce any decent players'- Funny comment to make on a thread about a NH team giving a tonking to a SH team.
Posted 21:55 11th November 2012
RobinMasters says...
You 're right latin, our three teams won this week end. I can't wait till Saturday for the France vs Pumas game!
Posted 19:39 11th November 2012
new_j4a says...
@Ross Hastie, Nothing posted since early this morning? Did your server go down under the weight of congratulations from Australia for the French who masterfully pricked the bubble of SH superiority....or for South Africa for finally taking its rightful place as the second ranked team in the world (I nearly said second best, but then I thought about how well the French team played and decided to leave it as a more plausible second ranked).
Posted 19:22 11th November 2012
Ripzy007 says...
Its always the coach's fault...What about pointing the finger at the problem in Oz for not nurturing home grown talent (like some props etc) and the skills, these are the things that should be taught through schools not at International level FFS...
Posted 19:16 11th November 2012
nzmaoriboy says...
@letsgoboks...Wholeheartedly agree bro! When France Click they can beat anyone on the planet...Problem is! there super-duper performances appear about as much as an All black Loss (rarely). If they show consistency over the next few years Selection wise & performance wise! they are going to be a massive threat at the next RWC2015..& if any team deserves that shot its the Froogy's
Posted 18:07 11th November 2012
melkdave says...
@Jonsey2
What are you talking about N.Owens had a great game.The only thing he missed was the number of the wallaby thug who spear tackled Nyanga,and even the TMO couldnt see it on reply .Think it was R.Simmons ??,but hopefully the citing commissioner will sort it out ,and annother wallaby can go home for a rest.Just accept the fact Australia where crap ,and move on .
Posted 16:47 11th November 2012
markpat says...
@bigb6969 - the aussie prop didn't pick himself back up. As all aussie scrums do, he went straight to grouhd, then the french front row picked him back up and started running the aussie pack backwards aas if they weren't there - penalty try was an obvious call.
Posted 14:03 11th November 2012
Wallaroo says...
Well played France, you outplayed the Wallabies in every aspect, I'm mortified.
We were lucky to not have 14 men on the field at one stage, if so we would have been even further degraded. Simmo needs to cop a suspension for this, I don't want to see thuggery creeping into the Aussie squad it's not part of our game.
As most have pointed out Deans cannot be blamed for this, our players were just woeful playing like rabbits caught in the headlights, Poor execution and no attempt to try anything different or change gear.
Finally please excuse @jonesy2 (a Kiwi, wannabe Aussie) who says "NH cant produce any decent players or refs. sort yourselves out please.", he obviously doesn't have a clue about geography. All Aussies know that France is in the NH.
Posted 12:00 11th November 2012