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Top14 player imposter!


JDV smashed by Benoit August


The Northampton Saints 30m scrum!


Bastareaud huge hit on Rory Lamont


All Blacks skills - Pt 2 In the backyard


Trinh-Duc sets up Harinordoquy try


Wales vs England 1999


Greg Holmes great hit on Francois Louw



Monday, June 30, 2008

Wallabies too strong for France in Sydney

Australia recovered from a sloppy start to crush an under-strength France team 34-13 in Sydney on the weekend. The Wallabies, in only their second match under a new coach, Robbie Deans, struggled to find cohesion before finally clicking into gear and running in four tries in the last 45 minutes at Olympic stadium.

Matt Giteau, Nathan Sharpe, Rocky Elsom and Stirling Mortlock all crossed over as the Wallabies fell just short of their record 23-point winning margin over the French, the 35-12 World Cup final victory in 1999.

Deans said the Wallabies had shown some encouraging signs of improvement after their 18-12 victory over Ireland two weeks ago but they still had plenty to work on.

"That was an improved performance," he said at a news conference. "We sustained our attack for longer.We made a few mistakes in the first half but showed a bit more patience in the second and were able to profit from that."

France, which had to field a weakened team, with many top players having club commitments, scored a late consolation try through its debutant winger, Alexis Palisson, after Dimitri Yachvili landed two first-half penalties.

Coach Marc Lièvremont conceded that his inexperienced team had been outplayed, but he said he was proud of their effort.

"It was never going to be a case where we ran over the Wallaby forwards," Lièvremont said. "But there is still some satisfaction because there was a lot of courage in defence. There are a lot of sore players in the dressing room right now."

The match failed to reach great heights as both sides struggled to control possession in a first period punctuated by handling errors.

The second and final test is in Brisbane next week and will prove to be a warm-up for the Tri Nations for the Wallabies, and a game in which the French have nothing to lose, so we may well see an improved performance by them.


Time: 05:17


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15 Comments:

  • inexperienced french team, but lot of good players, Palisson, lecouls, kayser, nallet, trinh-duc, tillous bordes, was the best inexperienced players.

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at June 30, 2008 1:23 pm  

  • I can't help but think the wallabies are gonna get thrashed by SA and NZ...other than that I think they played excellent in the second half!!!

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at June 30, 2008 1:50 pm  

  • I usually dont like aussie forward packs, but the wallaby backline is really good

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at June 30, 2008 2:52 pm  

  • The wallabie forward pack should look like this
    1. Al Baxter
    2. James Hanson
    3. Adam Frier(even though he usually plays hooker and hes small he is a lot better than dunning
    4.Sharp
    5 Dean Mumm
    6. Rocky Elsom
    7. George Smith/Phil Waugh
    8. Wycliff Palu

    the backline
    9. Luke Burgess
    10. Matt Giteau
    11. Lote Tuqiri
    12. Berrick Barnes/James O Conner
    13. Stirling Mortlock/ Ryan Cross
    14. Lachie Turner
    15. Cameron Shepard

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at June 30, 2008 2:57 pm  

  • @the second anonymous, i rekon that Australia has the best backline out of all the tri nations, the only problem is our tight 5

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at June 30, 2008 2:58 pm  

  • @chazza...yeah your right!! its gonna be REALLY REALLY interesting once the wallabies take on SA and NZ, i think then we will know whether the Wallabies have made any improvements or not :D

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at June 30, 2008 3:22 pm  

  • All, any idea why the Wallabies have consistently struggled to produce a quality front 5? There can't be any more of a shortage of playes than, for instance, Scotland has, yet they have struggled with a crap front 5 for years now, who seem incapable of fronting up. Are all the talented fatties playing NRL or AFL or something?

    Any insights?

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at June 30, 2008 4:14 pm  

  • its not so much the tight 5 but the terrible front row that's the problem. Aus have heaps of quality in the second row - much more strength in depth in this area than almost any other country in the world in my opinion - Sharpe, Vickerman, chisholm, horwill, Mumm are all world class players. below that hockings and campbell are pretty useful and could play international rugby without disgracing themselves. all these guys are in their 20s too so the wallabies are pretty well set for quite a few years in this department.

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at June 30, 2008 7:44 pm  

  • i don't understand why all the NH teams have been so badly opened up around the fringes of the rucks, mauls & Scrums, simple switch backs seem to have torn our defences apart.

    Have to say not that impressed form those try's, but i think with some good go forward ball and stable set pieces the Aussie backline can do some serious damage.

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at June 30, 2008 8:43 pm  

  • Yeah our forward pack really sux big time, but now we have a new hooker i think that it might get a bit better. When you think of it, we also have a great back row 6,7,8 Rocky elsom, Phil Waugh, george Smith, Wycliff Palu, Hugh Mcmenimen, Michael Lyaigh lots of quality there. And someone please take Fat Dunning off the field The only thing he does is take up space

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at June 30, 2008 9:55 pm  

  • hehe yeah a lot of space!

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at June 30, 2008 11:31 pm  

  • During the game you could see how Oz battled under the transition from the ELV's to playing with the standard rules, they were penalised time and time again for what would be acceptable under the ELV's. The IRB needs to make a decision under wich laws the players of both Hemispheres are going to play. Otherwise teams are going to give away a lot more penalties.

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at June 30, 2008 11:53 pm  

  • andrew they have and its been decided upon. go to the irb website to find out more as it sounds like ur living under a rock

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at July 01, 2008 12:57 am  

  • looking forward to the tri-nations. thanks for the comprehensive coverage of these tours

    cheers RD

    (people...let's get the forum going. join today!)

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at July 01, 2008 2:49 am  

  • chriskq, you might be the one living under a rock. If you follow southern hemisphere rugby you would know that the Tri Nations are going to be played under the ELV's

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at July 01, 2008 2:47 pm  

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