Wallabies' uncertain despite French win
Sun, 29 Jun 2008 11:10
Despite their apparent comfortable 34-13 victory over France on Saturday, the "hot-and-cold" performance has left Australia wondering who might make the grade for the upcoming Tri-Nations series.
New Wallabies coach Robbie Deans forecast changes if there was no improvement on the 18-12 escape against Ireland two weeks ago, and might keep a similar line-up for the second Test against France on Saturday in Brisbane.
Star flyhalf Matt Giteau typified the mood in the Wallabies camp Sunday when, despite scoring one try, setting up another and slotting five goals in a personal 19-point effort, acknowledged to feeling anything but safe under Deans.
The Wallabies needed a 15-minute flurry, which yielded three tries, to turn a slender four-point half-time advantage into the Wallabies'biggest winning margin over France in Australia.
Giteau and scrumhalf Luke Burgess both felt the Wallabies tried too hard to make things happen in the opening half and were now sweating on Deans overlooking those shortcomings when he and assistant coaches Jim Williams and Michael Foley have their next selection meeting Tuesday.
Performances in these tests will be key to deciding initial line-ups for the approaching Tri-Nations series against fellow Southern Hemisphere powers New Zealand and South Africa.
"As far as the combinations go, I'm enjoying playing with Luke, I'm enjoying playing with Berrick [Barnes at inside center], but whoever Robbie or the selectors pick, that's out of my hands," Giteau said.
"I mean, I don't even know if I'm playing. So, from that point of view, you don't worry about things you can't control. You just go out there and play and train and do the best you can."
The Wallabies pack has less reason for selection concern after dominating the aggressive French forwards and generally adapting better to reverting to rugby's old laws - rather than the Experimental Law Variations (ELVs) used in Super 14 - than they were against Ireland.
"Our forwards really stood up," Giteau said. "Our forwards went straight through them. That's where we made a big difference.
"Especially in that second half, when we went back to that simpler game, our forwards just carried and they went straight through them."
