The Wallabies huffed and puffed and after the first half looked in control, but a surging second half by France blew Australia’s house down in their Nations Championship clash in Brisbane on Saturday.
France, who trailed 21-12 at half-time, scored three tries in quick succession after an Australian yellow card to secure a 42-26 win.
France came out of the blocks fast and opened the scoring after only three minutes when the Wallabies couldn’t deal with the bulk of Emmanuel Meafou as he rumbled over for a converted try for a 7-0 lead.
The Wallabies, who were full of running in the early stages, hit back from an attacking lineout. This time, they kept the ball with the forwards, allowing Brandon Paenga-Amosa to burrow over for a converted try to level things up at 7-7 in the ninth minute.
But France hit the front again when Aaron Grandidier-Nkanang ran onto a clever kick ahead to score and unconverted try for a 12-7 lead in the 19th minute.
But the Wallabies hit the front in the 26th minute when Fraser McReight scored. Ryan Lonergan added the conversion for a 14-12 lead.
That became 21-12 when McReight profited from a textbook maul for another converted score in the 35th minute and that’s how the teams went into the break.
France turned things around in the first quarter of the second half. After an early Lucu penalty, they added three tries through Grandidier-Nkanang, his second, Romain Ntamack and Florian Verhaeghe, two of which were converted for a 34-21 lead in the 57th minute.
Another try followed in the final 10 minutes as winger Theo Attissogbe crossed over to seal the match for France, while Jeremy Williams scored a consolation try for the Wallabies.
Scorers
Australia 26 (21)
Tries: Brandon Paenga-Amosa, Fraser McReight (2), Jeremy Williams
Conversions: Ryan Lonergan (3)
France 42 (12)
Tries: Emmanuel Meafou, Aaron Grandidier-Nkanang (2), Romain Ntamack, Florian Verhaeghe
Conversions: Maxime Lucu (3)
Penalties: Maxime Lucu (2)
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