Aussies stroll to record win
Sat, 05 Jul 2008 14:06
Try time: James Horwill crashes over for Australia
Australia turned on the style to romp to a record 40-10 victory over a depleted and directionless French side at Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane on Saturday.
The Wallabies scored four great tries to one from France, which in truth was a consolation effort at the stroke of full-time.
France went into this game with a team full of rookies.
Coach Marc Lièvremont has been denied the services of most of his top players on this tour, and he has made no bones about the fact that he is 'experimenting'.
It seems wrong to call this match a Test, such was the inequality between the sides.
There were only a handful of tried and tested international players in blue jumpers. The entire French backline had 13 Test caps between them.
It showed throughout the match. Australia were better in every way, and the scoreboard reflected that.
France didn't even have an opening period of bustle where they could claim that they competed with the hosts, as they did last week.
Instead, the Aussies took over the contest as soon as it began. Giteau opened the scoring after four minutes with a penalty goal.
Three minutes later, the playmaker summed up the French defence in the blink of an eye, and executed a perfect cross-kick for wing Peter Hynes, who under no pressure whatsoever, caught the ball and scored in the corner.
Giteau showed that he was in the mood with a fantastic conversion right from the touchline. Australia were already 10-0 to the good after only eight minutes.
The Force pivot had a fantastic game in all, showing off all the attributes that makes him such a star.
The Aussie forwards also showed some good grunt up front, and won most of the physical battles.
But Australia in broken play are all about that man Giteau. The Wallabies attacked crisply with their backline, which ran flat at the French, and executed clean, short passes. Stirling Mortlock hit a half-gap, and set up the play nicely for Giteau's genius execution.
The flyhalf ran and spun out of a tackle, before racing straight at the last defender. Drawing the man, Giteau flipped an audacious backhanded pass to the supporting James Horwill, who slipped a weak tackle and crashed over for the try.
The move just illustrated the fantastic ability of Giteau - both in his evasive running ability, and his omniscient vision.
The Australians went into the break with a 26-3 lead, with France's only replying via the boot of Francois Trinh-Duc, who slotted a penalty in the 40th minute.
The French managed to keep possession for some parts of the second period, and also slowly inched their way upfield to hold promising field position after half-time.
But it was the home side who once again undid all France's hard toil when Western Force centre Ryan Cross got the better of his marker, and sprinted a quarter field to score five more points for the Aussies.
Again that man Giteau was involved, setting Cross free with a beautiful flat pass.
The same two players combined again 10 minutes later after a sustained attacking phase inside the French quarter to make it 40-3.
That scoreline pretty much summed up the massive chasm in quality between the two teams,
The Australians were home and dry, and switched into cruise mode close to the final whistle. This allowed the French to score a token try with the last move of the match, as they counter-attacked successfully from deep in their own territory
Trihn-Duc was the man who finished the score, while Aussie fullback Cameron Shepherd was being treated for a suspected broken left leg.
Referee Paul Honiss watched substitute Dimitri Yachvili slot the conversion before blowing the final whistle, bringing the curtain down on a massive win for the Wallabies.
Man of the match: It can be none other than the Australian entertainer, Matt Giteau. The pivot showed that nothing is beyond him on a rugby field.
Moment of the match: Giteau's spin and break, and the one-handed back-flicked pass that set up James Horwill's try.
Villain of the match: There was some argy bargy at times, but nobody misbehaved too badly in this match.
Scorers:
For Australia:
Tries: Hynes, Horwill, Cross 2
Cons: Giteau 4
Pens: Giteau 4
For France:
Try: Trinh-Duc
Con: Yachvili
Pen: Trinh-Duc
Teams:
Australia: 15 Adam Ashley-Cooper, 14 Peter Hynes, 13 Stirling Mortlock (captain), 12 Berrick Barnes, 11 Lachlan Turner, 10 Matt Giteau, 9 Luke Burgess, 8 Stephen Hoiles, 7 Phil Waugh, 6 Rocky Elsom, 5 Dean Mumm, 4 James Horwill, 3 Al
Baxter, 2 Stephen Moore, 1 Benn Robinson.
Replacements: 16 Adam Freier, 17 Ben Alexander, 18 Hugh McMeniman, 19 George Smith, 20 Sam Cordingley, 21 Ryan Cross, 22 Cameron Shepherd.
France: 15 Benjamin Thiéry, 14 Alexis Palisson, 13 Maxime Mermoz, 12 Thibault Lacroix, 11 David Janin, 10 Francois Trinh-Duc, 9 Sebastien Tillous-Borde, 8 Imanol Harinordoquy, 7 Fulgence Ouedraogo, 6 Matthieu Lièvremont, 5 Lionel Nallet (captain), 4 Sebastien Chabal, 3 Renaud Boyoud, 2 Sebastien Bruno, 1 Pierre Correia.
Replacements: 16 Benjamin Kayser, 17 Benoit Lecouls, 18 David Couzinet, 19 Louis Picamoles 20 Yannick Caballero, 21 Dimitri Yachvili, 22 Jean-Baptiste Peyras
Referee: Paul Honiss (New Zealand)
Touch judges: Marius Jonker (South Africa), Kelvin Deaker (New Zealand)
Television match official: Kelvin Deaker (New Zealand)
