Preview: France v Australia
Fri, 21 Nov 2008 02:04
The Australians spoke this week of the unpredictable nature of the French and how difficult it is to prepare for the Tricolours.
It used to be one of the best traits of the French - with opponents never knowing which French side will turn up: the carefree, but utterly brilliant and skillful French, or the disinterested and moody bunch.
Australian wing Drew Mitchell says he expects the former to arrive at Stade de France, in Paris, on Saturday.
The Wallabies drew praise for the way they handled a supposedly superior English pack London last week, a 28-14 win for the Aussies, but Mitchell anticipates a different challenge from Marc Lievremont's French side.
"They're a lot more flamboyant and they have quite a lot of variety in their attack," he said.
"They've got a big combative forward pack and they've got two big midfield centres, but they've also got guys in the halves - at No.9 and No.10 - who've got the skills to change the direction of the attack."
The Wallaby wing was pleased with the defensive efforts by Australia against Martin Johnson's men last week, but makes no secret of the fact he hopes for greater opportunities to attack at the Stade du France.
"In the English game there wasn't a great deal of ball out wide, but defensively I was pretty happy with how things went. Conditions pending, hopefully the ball gets thrown around a little bit more [against France]."
Australia are over halfway through their year-end tour, and after a Bledisloe Cup defeat to New Zealand in Hong Kong, wins over Italy and England suggest they are starting to find some form.
Mitchell, though, is keen to guard against complacency, and is well aware that the Wallabies have struggled to maintain their intensity after big wins in the past.
"We've beaten the Springboks [27-15 in Durban] and backed it up with a pretty poor performance [a 53-8 defeat to South Africa in Johannesburg] and it was the same with the All Blacks, when we beat them [34-19 in Sydney] and the same sort of thing [a 10-39 loss to New Zealand in Auckland] happened," he said.
"Although the feeling was a great one after the game against England, it'd be remiss of us to not go on with it and go out there [against France] with a lot of intensity and a lot of desire to win."
The Wallabies also know that they not won in France for eight years.
Captain Stirling Mortlock, flank George Smith and reserve scrumhalf Sam Cordingley are the only three survivors from the Wallabies' last win over Les Bleus (18-13) in France back in 2000.
"Playing France in France is always extremely tough," Mortlock said.
"They are very proud about their rugby history and whenever they pull on that blue jersey, they wear it with a huge amount of dignity and respect and honour.
"So we've got no doubts about what's in front of us. They've got the ability to play with typical French flair in attack, so good counter attack. Their outside backs have good pace and score tries.
"So there's tests for us all over the paddock."
The Wallabies are also keen to dismiss their emphatic 2-0 series win over an under strength French outfit in Australian in June this year - including a record 40-10 romp in Brisbane.
Flyhalf Matt Giteau said that this time around the Wallabies are expecting a much tougher encounter.
"It was a different side and they were at a different stage of the year," he said.
"Now they're a lot fresher. Last time it was the end of a long season for them. I think a lot of them were mentally and physically tired.
"So it's going to be a much tougher game."
Players to watch:
For France: Think French and think flair. Then you want to watch Maxime Médard at fullback, Julien Malzieu and Cedric Heymans on the wings. Think brute force and you look to Yannick Jauzion in the midfield. But most of all you will look to see how the Caveman, Sebastien Chabal, performs at lock alongside captain Lionel Nallet.
For Australia: There are the obvious choices to watch - Stirling Mortlock, Matt Giteau, George Smith and Nathan Sharpe. However, the Wallaby front row of Al Baxter, Stephen Moore and Ben Alexander are the new saviours of Wallaby rugby after standing up to Andrew Sheridan and company last week. Do they have the stomach for the French forwards?
Head to head: This game has two of the most skilful flyhalves in the game - David Skrela of France up against Matt Giteau of Australia. Around them the game will evolve. But big strong and energetic Imanol Harinordoquy (France) will be up against equally burly Wycliff Palu (Australia) in an altogether different showdown - a show of brute force.
Recent results:
2008: Australia won 40-10, Brisbane
2008: Australia won 34-13, Sydney
2005: France won 26-16, Marseille
2005: Australia won 37-31, Brisbane
2004: France won 27-14, Paris
2002: Australia won 31-25, Sydney
2002: Australia won 29-17, Melbourne
2001: France won 14-13, Marseille
2000: Australia won 18-13, Paris
1999: Australia won 35-12, Cardiff (World Cup Final)
Prediction: There is so much that counts in favour of the French - the game is a late kick-off, on a Saturday night in Paris, and the Wallabies have already had three tough games - against New Zealand, Italy and England. While the Wallabies have wins Italy and England under their collective belts, the French have accounted for Argentina and the Pacific Islanders. Somehow, you have to think the French will be more fresh and hungry. We think the French team of flair will arrive and end the Wallabies' run of victories - France to win by 15.
Teams:
France: 15 Maxime Médard, 14 Julien Malzieu, 13 Benoit Baby, 12 Yannick Jauzion, 11 Cedric Heymans, 10 David Skrela, 9 Sebastien Tillous-Borde, 8 Imanol Harinordoquy, 7 Fulgence Ouedraogo, 6 Thierry Dusautoir, 5 Lionel Nallet (captain), 4 Sebastien Chabal, 3 Nicolas Mas, 2 Dimitri Szarzewski, 1 Lionel Faure.
Replacements: 16 Benjamin Kayser, 17 Benoit Lecouls, 18 Romain Millo-Chluski, 19 Louis Picamoles, 20 Julien Tomas, 21 Damien Traille, 22 Alexis Palisson.
Australia: 15 Adam Ashley-Cooper, 14 Peter Hynes, 13 Ryan Cross, 12 Stirling Mortlock (captain), 11 Drew Mitchell, 10 Matt Giteau, 9 Luke Burgess, 8 Wycliff Palu, 7 George Smith, 6 Dean Mumm; 5 Nathan Sharpe, 4 Hugh McMeniman, 3 Al Baxter, 2 Stephen
Moore, 1 Ben Alexander
Replacements: 16 Tatafu Polota-Nau, 17 Sekope Kepu, 18 Mark Chisholm, 19 David Pocock, 20 Sam Cordingley, 21 Quade Cooper, 22 Digby Ioane
Date: Saturday, November 22
Venue: Stade de France, Paris
Kick-off: 21.00 (20.00 GMT)
Weather: Scattered showers are expected, with a low of 4°C and a high of 7°C
Referee: Craig Joubert (South Africa)
Touch judges: Chris White (England) , David Changleng (Scotland)
TMO: Giulio De Santis (Italy)
