Australia defeat France 18-13 at Stade de France in Paris

[travelling_gerry]

they said cross was ruled out and then they were in the middle of saying why then they kept commentating

Virus I heard.

[robyn <3]

Virus I heard.

Yup, a tummy-bug. Poor bloke. And his Dad came over for the game just to watch him. That really sucks.

[force addict]

burgess: terrible
french #10: even more terrible.
exciting game though, and it was the same score as when we last beat the french at that stadium in 2000

[Tazzmania]

just watched the replay on FOX, firstly a wins a wins and 3 in a row is no mean feat, but my main concern once again was burgess at scum half his first half was woeful at best, the referee turned the game in to a kicking contest after penalizing both attacking and defending sides at the breakdown, great ball handling from giteau and mortlock for the hynes try......

Fully agree with your summation Slomo, the good thing is that we are starting to win, when it is not going our way and that will surely start building the confidence.

While AAC did nothing wrong in the centre, we seemed to lack Ryan Cross' stregnth in the centre.

We are are starting to build a bit of depth in most positions but two glaring concerns is a back up for Matt Giteau, he is putting his body, heart and soul on the line week after week and I am concerend that without a back up he is not going to get much rest for his body, the other is the props. Was last week a flash in the pan as even with Moore having a great game the scums were woeful again, was Benn Robinson the difference.

[pruc]

after watching the game
i vote drop goals be worth 1 point

[force addict]

agreed, pruc. drop goals ruin this game. hence my avatar.

[Burgs]

General agreement with all that has been written.
I think Burgess needs the week off to clear his head.
He hasn't suddenly gotten bad, I think it is just a case of the top three inches and getting worked up into an anguished state.
Just needs to chillout, have a beer or two or whatever is his equivelent of a day or two off and then knuckle down again.
In all a pretty ordinary display of officiating and Rugby in general.

[laura]

Agreed but we dont really have a viable replacement for Burgo. Cordingley is unlikely to last the 80 minutes and Gits is the only other option for that position.
I don't think he is a bad player but maybe his lack of experience is starting to show and he really did get hammered by the opposition, when he went to clear the ball the French were right on to it. I also think he got a bit overwhelmed, he struggled under pressure and couldn't make a quick decision. He almost always passed to Gits and like it was said before he doesn't seem to have peripheral vision to see other options.

The reffing was atrocious! Even the commentary team (who were also pretty dodgy) were having a go at the ref. How he managed to pick up some of the most minor incidents and miss Coops getting tackled in the air is beyond me. Not to mention when Stirlo was dropped on his head after he had passed the ball....