France overcame a nine-point half-time deficit to defeat Australia 42-26 in a thrilling Nations Championship match in Brisbane on Saturday. The victory marked France's first win over the Wallabies in Brisbane since 1972.
First-half action
France opened the scoring in the third minute when lock Emmanuel Meafou barged over after sustained pressure. Australia responded through hooker Brandon Paenga-Amosa, who crossed after a clever line-out move. In the 18th minute, fly-half Romain Ntamack put a kick through for winger Aaron Grandidier-Nkanang, who flew past Declan Meredith to score in the corner.
Meafou was shown a yellow card for a high tackle on Rob Valetini, and flanker Fraser McReight took advantage, burrowing over for a try converted by Lonergan to make it 14-12. McReight scored his second just before halftime, crashing over from a rolling maul to put Australia up 21-12.
Second-half turnaround
France dominated the second half, scoring 30 unanswered points. Maxime Lucu landed a 46-metre penalty, and Grandidier-Nkanang scored his second try to bring France within one point at 21-20. France took the lead through Ntamack after Australia full-back Tom Wright was yellow-carded for a professional foul.
Lock Florian Verhaeghe crashed over to make it 34-21, Lucu added another penalty, and right wing Theo Attissogbe sealed the victory with a try. A late consolation try by lock Jeremy Williams ensured Australia secured a four-try bonus point.
Quotes and reactions
"We were very happy going in at half-time. 21-12 up, we put ourselves in a great position there," said Australia captain Harry Wilson. "Then the big second half and we're learning that you need to play a good 80 minutes. We keep losing moments and (allowing) a team like France to put on 30 unanswered points, it's not good enough."
"It's awesome, we studied them all week and I think it was a challenge for us to come and play," said France lock Emmanuel Meafou. "Credit to the Wallabies. That was a tough first half. We knew they weren't going to go away, but we got some good tries in the second half. We have a lot of depth in the team, and I think that's one thing that the French do really well is kind of rotate their players and make sure everyone gets a run. And everyone who puts on the jersey is up for it."
Man-of-the-match Romain Ntamack said through an interpreter: "Really proud of all the players. It was a very tough first half, and we knew that it wasn't going to be easy against the Wallabies. Second half, we thought we needed to keep going, keep pushing, and it paid off. Really very happy about the second half."
