An inexperienced French outfit gets their three-match tour of Australia underway when they face off against the Wallabies on Wednesday in Brisbane.
Will a somewhat inexperienced Wallabies side deliver the goods on home soil or will the French carry their solid European form over to the land down under?
Australia v France
Wednesday 7 July
Suncorp Stadium
12:00
To Win (80 Mins)
Australia 27/100
Draw 25/1
France 26/10
Handicap
Australia (-10.5) 9/10
France (+10.5) 9/10
This promises to be a cracking test Dave Rennie has had a year at the helm of the Wallabies ship and the improvement has been evident with the side coming on leaps and bounds from the team who disappointed at the 2019 Rugby World Cup.
The Wallabies are by no means world beaters, however, and they are going to have to produce some solid rugby if they are to beat a vintage French side that has been making waves in Europe since the last World Cup.
In Australia’s quest to improve and challenge the big names of the game, Rennie is looking to build depth. The former Waikato Chiefs coach will be blooding a number of players this coming Wednesday with Lachlan Lonergan, Darcy Swain, Len Ikitau and Andrew Kellaway set to make their debuts off the pine.
While there’s a lot more experience in the starting XV than there is on the bench, there are still a couple of rookies set to run on to the Suncorp this Wednesday with Noah Loslesio getting his third cap, Hunter Paisami making his sixth appearance and Rob Valentini claiming his fifth cap.
The French head out to Australia with a vastly inexperienced team. They only have a combined 172 caps among the 42-man. Additionally, there are over 20 uncapped players in the travelling party.
That said, Fabien Galthie does have a couple of seasoned campaigners to call upon with Teddy Thomas and Damian Penaud in the squad. I very much doubt that their experience will help this French outfit over the line against an Aussie side with everything to prove.
Verdict: Australia (-10.5) 9/10
If the French had a full-strength side I would be all over them to win this one by more than eight. Instead, back a far more experienced Australian side to comfortably come out on top here.
