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Match Preview: Wallabies vs France
This is it boys. The last chance to impress before year is out. The last chance to leave the fans with a happy memory before the six month test rugby drought. This tour started with the ecstasy of finally handing one to the All Blacks, and after the demoralizing slump against England in the middle, a win in Paris will bring the Wallabies out of the valley of relative despair that has been the weeks since Hong Kong. It really has been an up and down year for the Wallabies. The high of thrashing England in Perth followed by the low of losing the week after in Sydney. The high of belting the Boks in Brissie followed by the low of copping a belting from the All Blacks in Melbourne. The high of the last minute Kurtley Beale win in South Africa followed by the heartbreaking loss to New Zealand again in Sydney. The high of getting revenge in Hong Kong only to capitulate at Twickenham 2 weeks later.
It’s gotta be our turn for another high....
How are they travelling?
Though Australia won against Italy last weekend it certainly hasn’t consoled the loss to England. Our defence may have been better, but Italy’s attack was nowhere near as efficient as England’s nor was it as unpredictable as France’s will be. Yet even without Italy pressuring the Wallabies on the scoreboard, we still made the type of poor decisions in attack that plagued the England game. Unnecessary passes were pushed, balls were dropped (not a reference to how young our backline is), and passes went forwards. Berrick Barnes put this down to being overeager as the young Wallabies aren’t accustomed to playing against such a leaky defence. France, however, will not be leaky and have named three big men in the midfield in Damien Traille, Yannick Jauzion, and Aurelian Rougerie to stop our exciting backs in their tracks.
France has not been in electric form either. A sloppy with over Fiji two weeks ago was followed up by a dull, try-less 15-9 win over Argentina in Montpellier. Admittedly the conditions weren’t conducive to try-scoring, but this was the same Argentine side that struggled to beat Italy the week before. Having said all that, France are this year’s Six Nations grand slam winners and only England coming close to knocking them off. The boys in Les Bleu haven’t played an inspiring game of rugby for 6 months- Will this weekend be their bolt from Les Bleu?
How are they going to win it?
France have given every indication that they will play to the wet conditions and beat Australia through attrition rugby. As previously mentioned, France’s 10, 12, and 13 are all over 100kgs and it is hard to see Damien Traille sending the ball much wider than that. The French back three are only likely to see the ball if the Wallaby backs continue their form of kicks inside the 22 not going into touch. Traille is a conservative choice at 10 and his thumping boot puts him in a similar mould to Morne Steyn; only without the goal kicking accuracy. Elsewhere in the forwards, Lievremont has made the unusual selection of starting the personification of French rugby, Sebastien Chabal, obviously with the intention of bashing the Wallabies forwards into submission. The French pack tight-five are highly favoured over their Wallaby counterparts, while Chabal’s backrow cabal will spend the night putting the squeeze on Quade Cooper and taking him out of the game. In summary- crash-ball in the centres, field position and grinding forward play.
Australia can expect from France exactly what England dished up a fortnight ago. This will be real test to see if that game was a one off aberration or if it is a sign of a weakness in Robbie Deans’ Death Star. It goes without saying that Australia need to be composed and effective in defence and limit the damage in the scrum. It’s the same old story really. One area of opportunity for the Wallabies will be in kick-return. Traille was selected over Francois Trinh-Duc for his kicking and you can expect a fair bit with France wanting to play in Australia’s half. O’Connor, Beale and Mitchell will really need to stand up, take the quick throw-ins and stretch the cumbersome French team like they did the Springboks in the Tri-Nations. The Boks and the Bleus play in a similar style and a similar blue-print could win it for the Wallabies.
The players who will make a difference...
For Australia the team line-up is pretty similar to last week. James Slipper has earnt a reprieve and it will be interesting to see if the French get the lead on him like Castrogiovanni did last weekend. He will need to be stable to ensure the Wallabies’ success. Two interesting selections are the return of Billy Genia and the reselection of Rob Simmons. Genia has not been in resounding form since the Super 14 while last week Luke Burgess had a solid game and has been in arguably better form. Genia needs a good game to finish out the year or he could find himself displaced before the next test. Simmons, on the other hand, is a great selection from Deans. Dean Mumm and Mark Chisholm have been given countless chances this year and have done nothing with them; constantly being overshadowed by Sharpie. Like the rest of us, Deans has had enough and is giving Simmo a chance to impress before next year.
France have some class players in their side. Young Morgan Parra will hound Genia all night long and his kicking will be vital if France play for field position. Yannick Jauzion is another world class player and his size advantage over Berrick Barnes will make him hard to contain. France are yet to name their team for Saturday but another name with an important mission will be Lionel Nallet. The French lock will pair off against Nathan Sharpe in the line-out and will need a strong performance in order to maintain a territorial advantage over Australia. If Australia can continue the line-out superiority they have enjoyed in the last couple of games, they may go some way to reverse the damage they will face in the scrum. Nallet will need to ensure this doesn’t happen.
Wallabies
1. James Slipper (Queensland Reds)
2. Stephen Moore (Brumbies)
3. Ben Alexander (Brumbies)
4. Rob Simmons (Queensland Reds)
5. Nathan Sharpe (Western Force)
6. Rocky Elsom (c) (Brumbies)
7. David Pocock (Western Force)
8. Ben McCalman (Western Force)
9. Will Genia (Queensland Reds)
10. Quade Cooper (Queensland Reds)
11. Drew Mitchell (NSW Waratahs)
12. Berrick Barnes (NSW Waratahs)
13. Adam Ashley-Cooper (Brumbies)
14. James O’Connor (Western Force)
15. Kurtley Beale (NSW Waratahs)
16. Tatafu Polota-Nau (NSW Waratahs)
17. Benn Robinson (NSW Waratahs)
18. Mark Chisholm (Brumbies)
19. Scott Higginbotham (Queensland Reds)
20. Luke Burgess (NSW Waratahs)
21. Matt Giteau (Brumbies)
22. Lachie Turner (NSW Waratahs)
Referee: Bryce Lawrence (NZ)
The Outcome:
This is a tough one. As far as I can recall, the Wallabies have had the edge on Les Bleus since 2005, having won three times in 2008 and once in 2009. The Wallabies’ last victory in France was a tight win in 2008- a game in which the French won a penalty try after tearing the Wallabies scrum asunder. Neither team will be particularly happy with their form this time around. I have a feeling France will play the conditions better in this game and minimize the flair of the Australian backs. The heart says that Australia will win but the head is going for France. I’m going for middle and calling a Draw.
Another tip for anyone keen on a punt- Go for First score: Penalty try to France. Bound to pay out fairly big and definitely wouldn’t surprise. Might also be worth putting it down for Final score too.
