The Wallabies come into test two having silenced critics. They showed in the first test they have added a number of elements to their game and strengthened overall under McKenzie.
France ring in the changes for game two
Vice-captain Adam Ashley-Cooper, in reference to Robbie Deans conservative approach to the game said confidence and enjoyment are where the Wallabies are different this year.
“I’m really enjoying my football and that’s what it probably comes down to. Many years ago there was a lot of fear and a lot of conservative approaches to Test football, in not wanting to make mistakes, but now the fear’s gone and when you’re enjoying your football you’re playing really good football, and I think that’s we’re I’m at at the moment personally.”
And there shouldn’t be any shortage of confidence in this Wallabies team following their 50-23 demolition of Le Bleus last Saturday.
The Wallabies played well, but it’s hard to tell just how well. You can only put in a performance to the level your opposition allows you to, but it’s hard to tell given the poor performance by France.
This week, we should get a better idea just where the Wallabies are at, with Saint-Andre ringing in 10 changes to the French line-up. It’s worth pointing out that the French were resting all their stars from the Top14 final the week before hand, and underestimating this team could prove dangerous.
Kurtley Beale and mates celebrating scoring a try in the first test
In response to the below par performance, Saint-Andre has brought in captain fantastic, Thierry Dusautoir as well as the 115kg monster outside centre, Mathieu Bastareaud. Just the inclusion of those two alone will give the French a boost.
Bastareaud has a lot of motivation to play, taking last weeks loss personally,
“It’s like a slap when you take 50 points. On the pitch you feel helpless…and doubly helpless in the stands. We want to play, avenge the insult.”
In the first test, the it was widely believed the French would dominate at scrum time, and it wasn’t until Paddy Ryan came off the bench that you could claim they had anything like the dominance that was expected. As a result, Paddy Ryan has been dropped from the Wallabies bench to make way for Laurie Weeks on debut. And Les Bleus tight head prop and captain from the previous week, Nicholas Mas finds himself on the pine.
Saint-Andre has also installed a stronger halves combination in Morgan Parra and Remi Tales. Parra came on with 10 minutes to go in Brisbane, and was instrumental in getting his team moving in the right direction, as well as scoring a try himself.
McKenzie’s men has no shortage of motivation themselves, a sixth consecutive win would be their longest winning streak since 2005 – pre Robbie Deans.
With Stephen Moore’s captaincy lasting just five minutes, Michael Hooper becomes the Wallabies 82nd captain and will lead a team which had just three changes.
A lot will reply on Adam Ashley-Cooper in this game
As well as Weeks coming in on the bench, James Horwill gets promoted to the starting team, replacing last week’s man-of-the-match, Sam Carter. Inspirational hooker, Nathan Charles comes into the bench for Moore, with Polota-Nau in the starting team.
Key Match-Ups
Centres
Two monsters in the midfield, Bastareaud at 115kg and Kuridrani at 105kg. Both are capable of hitting a hole, but both also love to dominate, and we can expect some monumental collisions. While Kuridrani is a smash mouth centre, Bastareaud does have a little more tact to his game as well.
Where as at 12, while Fofana generally looks for opportunities for himself and the player immediately outside of him, Toomua is more like a second player maker and will look further afield for where the ball needs to be.
While Adam Ashley-Cooper is named on the wing, in Brisbane, we saw AAC sliding inside of Cummins on the left to act as a third centre on set plays, which worked to devastating effect, directly involved in three of the Wallabies tries.
While the French centres are talented individually, they don’t have the ability to match the Aussies in the midfield. The Vision of Toomua, with the hard running of Kuridrani and the hole hitting ability of Ashley-Cooper, gives the Wallabies the edge.
France will be looking for a vastly improved performance
Front Row
Wane Barnes has the whistle for the second test, and he generally awards penalties to the dominant scrum. Once Barnes has decided which scrum is dominant, it can be very difficult to convince him otherwise. So it’s very important for both teams to gain the edge early on.
When Saint-Andre was looking for areas his team had the edge over the Wallabies before the tour, the scrum would have received a big tick. And when his side failed to gain any real dominance in that area in Brisbane, it’s not really a surprise the French boss wielded the axe on his front row.
Nicholas Mas – widely regarded as the best tight head in the game – finds himself on the bench to make way for Alexandre Menini on debut.
The Wallabies scrum held together well last week with Slipper, Polota-Nau and Kepu, but with Paddy Ryan’s poor performance coming off the bench with 10 minutes to go, it’s not surprise to see him out of the match day 23 this week. In comes the experienced Laruie Weeks.
The French traditionally likes to ‘squeeze-in’ on the opposition hooker, and if the French gain dominance in Barnes’ eyes early on, the Wallabies won’t be able to rely on him to call penalties when it happens. A solid start for both teams in the scrum is a must.
Our Prediction
Even with the French making mass changes to their starting team, we still can’t see them getting on top of the Wallabies. While it will be a closer battle in the forwards with the addition of Dusautoir, and tougher in the backline with Bastareaud, Tales and Parra, they are still not in the class of the Wallabies with the likes of Toomua, AAC, Cummins, Folau and Hooper.
The French have too much passion to let another scoreline blow out happen again, but I can’t see in injection of a handful of stars making a 30-point difference.
While we don’t expect it to be as big a win as it was in Brisbane, we still expect the Wallabies to be too strong.
Wallabies by 12
Teams
Australia 15-Israel Folau, 14-Adam Ashley-Cooper, 13-Tevita Kuridrani, 12-Matt Toomua, 11-Nick Cummins, 10-Bernard Foley, 9-Nic White, 8-Ben McCalman, 7-Michael Hooper (captain), 6-Scott Fardy, 5-James Horwill, 4-Rob Simmons, 3-Sekope Kepu, 2-Tatafu Polota-Nau, 1-James Slipper
Bench 16-Nathan Charles, 17-Pek Cowan, 18-Laurie Weeks, 19-Luke Jones, 20-Scott Higginbotham, 21-Nick Phipps, 22-Kurtley Beale, 23-Pat McCabe
France 15-Brice Dulin, 14-Yoann Huget, 13-Mathieu Bastareaud, 12-Wesley Fofana, 11-Maxime Medard, 10-Remi Tales, 9-Morgan Parra, 8-Damien Chouly, 7-Thierry Dusautoir (captain), 6-Yannick Nyanga, 5-Yoann Maestri, 4-Alexandre Flanquart, 3-Rabah Slimani, 2-Guilhem Guirado, 1-Alexandre Menini
Bench 16-Brice Mach, 17-Thomas Domingo, 18-Nicolas Mas, 19-Bernard Le Roux, 20-Louis Picamoles, 21-Antoine Burban, 22-Frederic Michalak, 23-Remi Lamerat