France will be out to maintain their winning ways when they welcome the Wallabies to the Stade de France on the weekend.
France 1/9 | Draw 28/1 | Australia 56/10
Handicap
France (-14.5) 9/10 | Australia (+14.5) 9/10
Next year’s World Cup hosts last tasted defeat in Melbourne against Dave Rennie’s men back in July 2021 and have since notched up 10 Test wins in succession. On Saturday, they have the chance to become the first France side in history to win 11 in a row.
They may be ranked second, but many view this current crop as the true No 1s. Their power play up front, coupled with the outrageous talent amongst the backs, has made the Six Nations Grand Slammers favourites to lift the Webb Ellis Cup for the first time next year.
With a November schedule that also includes a match against the world champions next week, Le Bleus will have a fantastic opportunity to again gauge just where they stand in the game’s pecking order. Such is the quality at Fabien Galthié’s disposal, though, there’s no question they’ll be going for a clean sweep this month, with another Test against Japan to come too.
Hoops on hand to finish the job 🫡
— RUGBYcomau (@rugbycomau) November 1, 2022
The @wallabies renew the @FranceRugby rivalry this weekend 👊
🆚 #FRAvAUS
⏰ Sun 6 Nov 7:00am AEDT
🏟 Stade de France, Paris
📺 @StanSportAU#Wallabies pic.twitter.com/DCgqFgKrLE
One thing that may count against them though is the fact that they last played in July, while Australia have had a full Rugby Championship campaign in that time, as well as last week’s Test in Edinburgh.
That one-point victory, which ended a three-game losing run against the Scots, was a crucial one for the Wallabies given they must still face Ireland and Wales on tour. A strong performance in Paris here would do wonders for the confidence in the squad, but that seems unlikely given the gulf in class between the sides.
There will definitely be a wee bit of rustiness in the hosts’ game, but they should ultimately outmuscle the men in gold up front to come away with a comfortable win in the end. Get on the (-14.5) handicap.
