A tryless affair with the only points coming off the boot of Nic White and Bernard Foley. A far cry from their 50-23 thrashing the hosts handed France in the opening Test in Brisbane last weekend.
Even Izzy struggled to make an impact on the French defensive line
Playing in Melbourne, heartland of Australian Rules football, the Wallabies appeared determined to kick away possession, but derived little advantage from the tactic, and blew several promising drives with poor execution.
France executed the first promising move, however, a kick forward in the third minute sparking a foot-race between Foley and French full-back Brice Dulin to the line, but the Wallabies fly half prevailed by inches to cut off the chance.
The Wallabies were controversially denied what would have been the match’s opening try to number eight Ben McCalman on video review in the 22nd minute, prompting howls of derision from the stands.
Arguably the most exciting moment of the match came when Hugart got into a scuffle with Nick Cummins.
The French offered very little on attack, even when throwing the ball around in their carefree French style, it never really appeared to be anything the Wallabies defense couldn’t handle. The French spent most of the match defending with their wings up in the line. Which is what limited the Wallabies in attack.
If you can’t go around, you must either go through or over. With Les Bleus defense in the midfield near impeccable, the Wallabies needed to employ a kicking game. Yet with 14 players in the French line, their kicking options were poor.
Mid field bombs and long range kicks straight to the opponent is not what was needed. More attacking kicks, cross field and over the line, making the French pack, and their big midfielders turn and chance is what should have been employed. There was a complete lack of attacking kicking from the Wallabies.
Bernard Foley failed to identify where the space was and utilize it. As a result, the game was a grind. And not exactly enjoyable to watch.
The French were being dominated by the Wallabies channel one defense, but did the French look for a new tactic? No. For some strange reason they stuck with the one out plays. Possibly shifting their first receiver wider or a more direct pick and drive style would have been better options given the Wallabies defense. Even some outside-inside moves would have created more space for their forward runners.
As a result, the French lost a lot of ground and constantly found themselves on the back foot in attack.
A rather dour match, but never the less, the Wallabies have secured the series with a 6-0 victory.
Highlights
