• Match : Australia vs France
• Series : Autumn International
• Venue : Stade de France
• Time : Sunday, 6th Nov. 2022
The Wallabies led late after impressive tries from Lalakai Foketi and Jock Campbell, but Damian Penaud’s brilliance seized the win for the French at the death.
Points Summary
| France | Australia |
| Tries | Tries |
| Penaud 75′ | Campbell 40′ |
| Marchand 40′ | Foketi 17′ |
| Conversions | Conversions |
| Ramos 40′ | Foley 18′, 57′ |
| Penalty Goals | Penalty Goals |
| Ramos 6′, 9′, 32′, 37′, 45′, 72′ | Foley 3′, 12′, 42′, 65′ Hodge 74′ |
• In a game that featured 33 points from penalty goals, the first of four tries saw Tom Wright fly down the left flank before putting Lalakai Foketi through to score as Australia raced into a 10-3 lead with a 100-metre effort. France rallied, though, and Thomas Ramos kicked two more penalties before Julien Marchand crashed over on the stroke of half-time.
• More penalties followed early in the second stanza before Jock Campbell found his way over in the corner to give the Aussies a 23-22 lead as Bernard Foley nailed the conversion. Ramos, Foley and Reece Hodge kicked further three-pointers and Australia led 29-25 with five to go when France threw the ball wide to the right.
• Penaud had played out a relatively quiet game, making half-breaks here and there aside from solid defence on the wing. But when he caught Matthieu Jalibert’s pass, he defied gravity, logic and the Wallabies’ cover defence to beat three before gliding over in the corner. Ramos couldn’t convert but France still had the lead, and they held it for three more tense minutes as the clock hit 80 to seal a one-point victory for Les Bleus.
Match Preview
- The Australian team showed a good aggressive style of play in the first half. Then after the France team started scoring points, it was tight contest between the two sides.
- At the end of the first half, the France team was leading by 16:19. After a tight contest in the second half Damian Penaud’s last minute goal won the match for France.
Wallabies will come back stronger
- Any rustiness seen last week against Scotland was truly ironed out in this game as the Wallabies threw the ball around seamlessly and created many an opportunity to score with ball in hand.
- Foketi’s opening try will go head-to-head with Penaud’s winner in the ‘try of the autumn’ stakes, and the more Australia play like that, the more likely they’ll be to finish on the right side of future contests.
France set standard ahead of South Africa visit
- The tough tests don’t let up for France, with their match next weekend coming against the current Rugby World Cup holders, South Africa.
- The Springboks are a tough test of physicality and skill for any side but if France want to be seen as true contenders to win their home World Cup in 2023, they’ll need to push the Boks as closely as they were pushed by the Wallabies here.