France overwhelm Australia 42-26 in Nations Championship / Photo: © AFP
France overwhelm Australia 42-26 in Nations Championship
France came back from a nine-point half-time deficit to beat Australia 42-26 in a pulsating Nations Championship clash in Brisbane on Saturday.
After losing by two points against New Zealand last week, the French scored four second-half tries to notch their first win over Australia in Brisbane since 1972.
It was a familiar story for the Wallabies, who led Ireland last Saturday only to lose by two points.
They matched France in the first 40 minutes but faded badly in the second as the speed of the French attack proved overwhelming.
Played in front of a sellout crowd of 52,000 in perfect conditions, both sides looked to throw the ball around and attack with pace.
The French opened the scoring in just the third minute when lock Emmanuel Meafou barged over after some sustained pressure.
Down 7-0, the Wallabies hit back when hooker Brandon Paenga-Amosa crossed after a clever move at the front of the line-out.
Ryan Lonergan converted from the sideline to make it 7-7 after 10 minutes.
The French were taking full advantage of the conditions, moving the ball wide at every opportunity and stretching the Australian defence.
They were rewarded in the 18th minute when fly-half Romain Ntamack put a clever kick through for winger Aaron Grandidier-Nkanang, who flew past Declan Meredith to score in the corner.
Brisbane-born Meafou was having an eventful match on his return to his hometown, scoring the first try but then being shown a yellow card after a high tackle on Rob Valetini.
The Wallabies took full advantage of his absence, outstanding flanker Fraser McReight burrowing over and Lonergan converting to make it 14-12 to the home side.
McReight got his second when he crashed over on the back of a rolling maul to put the Wallabies up 21-12 five minutes before the break.
After holding out a marauding French forward pack right on half-time, the Wallabies would have gone into the break full of confidence with a nine-point lead.
Maxime Lucu narrowed the gap to six points with a 46-metre penalty five minutes after the restart.
They closed to within a point five minutes later when Grandidier-Nkanang crossed out wide for his second, then went ahead when Ntamack scored in the corner with Wallaby fullback Tom Wright off the field with a yellow card for a professional foul.
Lucu converted from the sideline to make it 27-21, which became 34-21 minutes later when lock Florian Verhaeghe crashed over under the posts.
Lucu put the score out beyond two converted tries with a penalty from in front, then France sealed it with a try to right wing Theo Attissogbe.
A consolation try by lock Jeremy Williams ensured Australia got a four-try bonus point.
Lewis--TNT
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