Despite early scrum worries and a closely contested first half, the Wallabies powered away from France in the second, humiliating the hosts with a 59-16 win at the Stade de France.
It was a tight first half and while the Australian scrum woes continued, a penalty try and yellow card did little to stop them playing the brand of rugby they wanted. Drew Mitchell scored a hat trick after Benn Robinson and Will Genia tries in the space of a few minutes killed off the French resistance.
James OConnor added a try later in the game to add to his haul of 29 points.
Six tries in 31 minutes showed what the talented Wallaby backline are capable of as the Six Nations champions were made to look a different side in front of an expectant home crowd.
“There’s a bit of a way to go to the summer,” said coach Robbie Deans.
“But this has been coming for us for a while. We’ve got a young group of men becoming more experienced. Some of the composure showed in the physical exchanges was evident tonight. We’ve been flighty in the past but some of these blokes are now more assured at Test level.
“We think the future is promising, but having been beaten by England, we know you’ve got to earn everything. The tour’s been good, we’ve learnt a lot and there’s lots to look forward to.
“Once we smelled a bit of blood, the guys in attack got in and it coincided with some good pieces of finishing,” he added.
Captain Rocky Elsom cited flyhalf Quade Cooper as an integral part of the success.
“The main positive for us, for me personally, was that Quade did an excellent job of game management.
“A lot of our finishing, which was brilliant at times, came down to choosing the right time to go. We got through more phases than in previous games.
“It shows maturity from him, choosing when to go. He was choosing the right time and the whole team was benefiting,” he said.
Time:
07:00
Note:
Thanks to tonytai2017. Better highlights will be posted later in the week.
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