France player ratings v Australia: Jalibert, Ntamack gamble pays off as Bomb Squad explodes
France stars Romain Ntamack and Matthieu Jalibert
Following a 42-26 victory over Australia in the Nations Championship clash at Suncorp Stadium on Saturday, here are the player ratings for France.
France player ratings v Australia
15 Matthieu Jalibert: Galthie’s gamble paid off in spades as Jalibert shone from full-back and in the dual playmaking axis with Romain Ntamack. Their ability to stretch the Wallabies‘ defence with their sensational running game, astute tactical kicking and overall smarts cut the Australian defence to shreds time and time again. The French head coach now knows he doesn’t have to pick between Jalibert or Ntamack; he can have both, and that’s a frightening prospect for anyone Les Bleus comes up against. 8
14 Théo Attissogbe: Cruelly denied a try in the second half but the Pau star once again showed why he is so highly regarded by the French coaching set-up after displacing Damian Penaud for the Six Nations. He did get a score later in the game which was just reward for his efforts throughout the game. The one blight was the way Tom Wright found grass in the backfield and nailed two 50:22s. Still, astute in the air, decent in defence and a major threat with ball in hand. 7
13 Fabien Brau-Boirie: The standout against the All Blacks last week and whilst he was less box-office today, he was not poor in the slightest. He managed to keep Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii rather quiet, shifted the ball on nicely and didn’t make too many mistakes on the whole. 7
12 Yoram Moefana: A strong 70 minutes from the Bordeaux star who has the capacity to produce a mare, particularly in the blue jersey but that wasn’t on the cards today. Thundered into Wallabies’ defenders, carrying powerfully and was sound on defence. 7
11 Aaron Grandidier-Nkanang: Two tries on his Test debut and barely looked out of place for the entirety of the game. Like Attissogbe, he needs to cop some of the blame for the backfield shortcomings. However, there were far more positives than negatives. 7
10 Romain Ntamack: A treat to see the Toulouse superstar back in action at the highest level and in the southern hemisphere, and he did not disappoint. Crowned man of the match after scoring and assisting a try but most importantly, marshalled the attack particularly well in the second half as France ran away with the victory. They were utterly dominant in that second half, and much of that was owing to his combination with Jalibert and Lucu. A statement performance where he reminded the world that France have another sensational number 10 in their ranks. 8
9 Maxime Lucu (c): Simply one of the best scrum-halves in the game and proved it once again. Assisted two tries, kicked well off the tee and from the base of the ruck. Lucu was just all class all game, even when his side were under the cosh in the first half. Antoine Dupont will be shoehorned right back into the number nine jersey upon his return from injury but Lucu rose to the occasion once again in the usual captain’s absence. 9
The forwards
8 Marko Gazzotti: Sheer work rate. Relentless on attacking breakdowns and equally busy on defence, topping the tackle count for Les Bleus. Did a lot and did a lot well. 8
7 Oscar Jégou: Hooked early in the second half after a rather quiet performance, a rarity from the La Rochelle man. Possibly a bit fatigued from last weekend. Still, he wasn’t poor. 6
6 Lenni Nouchi: Right behind Gazzotti on the tackle count and the leading carrier for Les Bleus. Made a pair of clean breaks too. A massive shift from start to finish. 8
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5 Emmanuel Meafou: Poetic that he scored the opening try of the match against his country of birth. Sent to the sin bin for a high shot not too long after. That was a momentum swing in the match, and Meafou wasn’t too prominent when he returned either. 6
4 Florian Verhaeghe: A player whose international career has been stalled by injuries but the Montpellier man rose to the challenge this time around, scoring a try and getting through a mountain of work. 7
3 Demba Bamba: Better than last week but he still leaves doubt around whether he is of international standard. Conceded a pair of penalties and didn’t look overly comfortable at scrum time. Simply average. 5
2 Peato Mauvaka: Accurate at the set-pieces, busy around the park and effective in just about everything he did. 7
1 Moses Alo-Emile: A sturdy Test debut without being brilliant. 6
Replacements: France’s real weapon of destruction as the return to the 6-2 bench split resulted in a demolition job of the Wallabies’ defence and an utterly dominant second half performance. Le Garrec and Kalvin Gourgues came on late to wreak havoc while Hugo Auradou, Tom Staniforth, and Killian Tixeront bossed the gainline. Maxime Lamothe, Jefferson Poirot, and Tevita Tatafu just about held on at scrum-time but fortunately for Les Blues, there weren’t too many of those to really cost them. 8
