Galthie challenges France 'to go up a level' after easy win over Wallabies
PARIS, FRANCE - AUGUST 27: Matthieu Jalibert of France is tackled by Fraser McReight (L) during the 2023 Summer International match between France and Australia at Stade de France on August 27, 2023 in Paris, France. (Photo by David Rogers/Getty Images)
Head coach Fabien Galthie warns France must "go up another level" after breezing past Australia in their final Rugby World Cup warm-up on Sunday.
Winger Damian Penaud crossed twice within the space of 20 minutes during the second half for tournament hosts and leading contenders Les Bleus, who were never really threatened by the Wallabies.
Galthie's side open the World Cup by welcoming three-time winners New Zealand to the Stade de France on September 8, a day before Australia face Georgia at the same venue.
"It was a warm-up game, it allowed us to develop," Galthie told TF1.
"But now we have to move on and go into competition mode. We have to go up a level across all factors," he added.
Matthieu Jalibert started at fly-half for the home side in a lineup which is also expected to face the All Blacks early next month.
Lock Will Skelton captained the Wallabies for the first time as they looked for their maiden victory in four games under Eddie Jones.
After two minutes, Australia fly-half Carter Gordon missed a penalty from 45m in overcast conditions in northern Paris.
Things worsened for the Melbourne Rebels playmaker on just his fifth Test appearance as Les Bleus centre Jonathan Danty crashed through him to open the scoring after a flat Antoine Dupont pass.
France full-back Thomas Ramos slotted the conversion to make it 7-0 before the visitors then responded.
Gordon helped set-up winger Mark Nawaqanitawase in the corner but 22-year-old fly-half missed the conversion.
By the interval, Ramos had pushed his side's advantage to 16-5 with three penalties as Gordon failed with another attempt.
Despite the lead, France looked sluggish compared to a majority of their performances since Galthie took over as head coach in December 2019.
Galthie reacted by changing his front five after 48 minutes and was rewarded shortly after as replacement lock Cameron Woki stole a dangerous Wallabies lineout.
Australia winger Suliasi Vunivalu was then sent to the sin bin and Ramos made it 19-5 with 27 minutes to play.
France's tails were up as captain Dupont underlined his brilliance with his second assist of the game, a delicate cross kick, to set up Penaud after Jalibert had tested the Australia defence.
Ramos slotted the extras and with the score at 26-5 the Stade de France crowd burst into life before Dupont left the field after an hour, the hosts protecting him less than two weeks out from meeting with the All Blacks.
There was short-lived hope for Jones' side through flanker Fraser McReight's 63rd-minute try before Gabin Villiere crossed for the hosts, after another lovely cross kick, this time by Jalibert, looking comfortable as the man in France's No. 10 shirt.
Penaud kept his best effort for six minutes before time with a sublime solo try starting from the halfway line, almost as good as his match-winning touchdown against the same opponents in November.
Jones' men finished on a positive note as winger Vunivalu, standing in for the rested Marika Koroibete, dotted down with three minutes left.
And the head coach attempted to strike a positive note, having insisted beforehand this was simply a "practice match"
“Within the camp we’ve got a fair bit of confidence,” Jones said.
“Obviously we’d like to have a better win/loss record but we’ve re-estabilised the team. We’ve taken away all the leadership that was there previously. We’ve got a new leadership team in place. We’re trying to play a different way.
“The results haven’t been good. It hasn’t been good enough. I’m not hiding away from that but we do have a longer-term plan in terms of the World Cup and that’s what we’re here for.
“We’ve got more players improving than declining. Suli is one. At Super Rugby level, he couldn’t blow a candle out and at Test level he scored one good try, could have scored a couple more. He looks like he’s ready to play at the highest level.
“I think our set-piece. Our scrum probably finished on top and the lineout was good. I thought the way we were able to negate France’s defence was pretty good. We just didn’t execute it well enough. We scored three good tries.
“I like the way the players kept fighting. I really enjoyed that. They were red hot in the second half. Every bounce went their way. It was a tough second half but we kept in there and kept fighting.”
Tries: Danty, Penaud 2, Villiere. Cons: Ramos 2, Jaminet. Pens: Ramos 4, Jaminet.
Tries: Nawaqanitawase, McReight, Vunivalu. Cons: C. Gordon.
Ramos, Penaud, Fickou, Danty, Villiere, Jalibert, Dupont, Gros, Marchand, Atonio, Flament, Willemse, Cros, Ollivon, Alldritt.
Jaminet for Ramos (69), Couilloud for Dupont (60), S. Taofifenua for Gros (48), Mauvaka for Marchand (48), Aldegheri for Atonio (48), R. Taofifenua for Flament (48), Woki for Willemse (48), Boudehent for Alldritt (65).
Kellaway, Nawaqanitawase, Petaia, Foketi, Vunivalu, C. Gordon, McDermott, Bell, Porecki, Tupou, R. Arnold, Skelton, T. Hooper, McReight, Valetini.
Donaldson for Foketi (58), Faessler for Porecki (69), Nonggorr for Tupou (69), Leota for R. Arnold (62), Gleeson for Valetini (69). Not Used: Schoupp, Philip, Fines-Leleiwasa. Sin Bin: Vunivalu (52).
Luke Pearce (RFU).
AFP and agencies
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