Home town favourites France shone a torch on all the areas the Wallabies still have to improve on with their World Cup opener just 12 days away.
The French looked the well-rehearsed, kick-savvy and established line-up that the Wallabies are hoping to become in the 41-17 win at Stade de France early on Monday morning (AEST).
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Suliasi Vunivalu, fellow winger Mark Nawaqanitawase and flanker Fraser McReight were clear positives for the Australians.
The disappointed Wallabies must now regroup and throw everything at Georgia at the same venue when their tournament begins on September 9.
What did we learn?
1 GOALKICKING
The Wallabies can fix some clunky pieces of their game but goalkicking is going to be fingers crossed game-to-game.
It could not have been more stark than in the first half when Carter Gordon missed all three of his kicks at goal while French fullback Thomas Ramos banged over four-from-four.
There was the half-time margin of 11 points (16-5) right there.
2 TANIELA TUPOU FACTOR
It was highly encouraging to see Taniela Tupou’s influence at scrum time.
The Aussies earned two scrum penalties in the first half with his big body and strength at tighthead prop.
Winning a penalty on the French feed on half-time showed the scrum can be a weapon.
It was a major positive because Australia’s first World Cup opponents, Georgia, pride themselves on their scrum.
A strong Tupou counter-ruck just after half-time also won the Wallabies the ball in a strong attacking position.
Tupou has to be hard on himself on where to improve as well. When he gave away a penalty midway through the second half, turning his back on the play was clocking off. Halfback Antoine Dupont took a quick tap while Tupou wasn’t looking and the French were off on another attack.
3 SULI VUNIVALU
Right from the start of his tenure, coach Eddie Jones has really backed his instincts that there is so much more in Suliasi Vunivalu.
It shone through in his best Test minutes as a Wallaby and one of the best games of rugby he’s played since switching codes.
He beat wing rival Gabin Villiere with a lovely little shimmy in limited space and kept getting involved.
The Wallabies have clearly decided they are going to use his height advantage on rival wingers as a Folau-like target.
He grabbed a high kick with his sure hands for a late try but the Wallabies’ kickers have to be good enough to land those up-and-unders on the tryline in future.
There were plenty of top pointers that the coach’s confidence is giving Vunivalu more of his own.
It doesn’t alter the fact that the rested Marika Koroibete and Nawaqanitawase, with his clever offloading and eye for a gap, are still clearly Australia’s top wing pair.
The excellent early Nawaqanitawase try was all about variation in long and short passing. All crisp and the space was created.
4 POOR DEFENCE
The Wallabies really struggled in the outside channels when the French ran at them.
The last man in the line lost connection with the man inside through poor communication and perhaps lack of repetition under game pressure. When a defender jams in to shut down a play, his outside man has to be in unison or the rubber band between them snaps.
It was exaggerated by the expert French attacking kicking game which generated three tries.
It is a huge area to work on. You can’t be giving away 41 points.
It again showed a worrying hint that if you break open a tight game against the Wallabies, they fall off the pace and the scoreline turns into a gulf.
5 MORE WORK-ONS FOR WALLABIES
Fewer ACT Brumbies in the pack and no Dan McKellar on the coaching staff has dissolved the rolling maul as a weapon compared to 2022.
It’s a growing pain and must be improved because good field position was wasted several times.
Flanker Tom Hooper was the regular lineout target but the Wallabies kept their lineout variations under wraps for the World Cup. The French threw up a jumper and stole a 5m lineout because they read Hooper as the target.
Flanker McReight was busy throughout. He burst onto the ball at high speed for his try, earned a penalty at the ruck and split the French lineout with a gallop all in a seven-minute spurt in the second half.
