France player ratings vs Wallabies | Nations Championship 2026

Fabian Galthié’s much-changed French side secured a first win of the 2026 Nations Championship with a comprehensive 42 – 26 dismantling of Joe Schmidt’s Wallabies at Suncorp Stadium.

One week removed from taking the All Blacks to the wire, the Six Nations champions once again showed their ability to overturn a deficit in rapid fashion. Trailing 21-12 at half-time, Les Bleus started the second half with a Maxime Lucu penalty.

This score started a run of points for the visitors, who scored three quick-fire tries and another Lucu penalty to pull away for a record victory on Australian soil.

For the Wallabies, it was a sixth consecutive defeat just over a year out from a home World Cup.

Here is how the French players rated in Brisbane.

1. Moses Alo-Emile – 5
Starting in his hometown, the former Brisbane State High School standout got his first carry inside the opening 10 seconds. He continued this effort with a few more solid carries and some big shots in defence.

2. Peato Mauvaka – 5
Pretty quiet by his high standards, the Toulouse hooker made nine tackles and had two carries before departing in the 45th minute.

3. Demba Bamba – 5
Pinged for two early free-kicks, the Racing 92 tighthead struggled with Karl Dickson’s interpretation of the scrum. In open play, he put in a solid shift with 10 tackles and a few rumbles with ball in hand.

4. Florian Verhaeghe – 7
Ruling the skies from the off with six line-outs won, the 6-foot-8 Montpellier lock picked up right where he left off in the Top 14. Showing a nice combination of quick thinking and raw power to dot down for a try midway through the second half proved to be the decisive moment in the contest.

5. Emmanuel Meafou – 6
A mixed bag for the towering, Sydney-raised lock, who started brightly with the opening try inside three minutes, dragging three Wallabies over the line with him. This moment would be a high point. He was sent to the sin-bin in the 24th minute for a high shot on Rob Valetini, which came minutes after another high shot that appeared to go under the radar. Interestingly, he was utilised as a big carrier in midfield from the line-out, which was a nice gain-line-busting option.

6. Lenni Nouchi – 9
Absolutely everywhere, the Montpellier skipper was his side’s go-to carrier, with a whopping 17 carries for 57 metres, two line breaks, two offloads and three defenders beaten. This outlandish offensive performance did not take away from his defensive duties, with the 22-year-old making 14 tackles for a supreme all-round showing.

7. Oscar Jegou – 6
Stopped a certain Max Jorgensen try with a last-ditch shove in the corner. Across the board, the rangy back-rower had a solid if not quite spectacular showing. In his head-to-head with Fraser McReight, he came up second best and was replaced early in the second half.

8. Marko Gazzotti – 7.5
The quiet workhorse in the pack, the number eight was the top tackler for his side with 17, to go with a handful of carries. While he might not pop off the screen in the same manner as his back-row teammates, Gazzotti routinely leads his side’s defensive line. This pace and organisation suffocated the Wallabies’ ability to generate any consistent attacking phases in the second half.

9. Maxime Lucu – 8
Had his hands full with the dangerous Australian poachers, most notably Fraser McReight. Lucu was continually dealing with messy ball, yet still managed to get his backline humming on several occasions with his quick service.

10. Romain Ntamack – 8
Clearly relishing playing alongside Jalibert, Ntamack mixed up his positioning throughout the contest. Targeting the fringes of the Wallabies’ defence as both a passer and runner, he fully capitalised in the 53rd minute with a well-taken individual try to put his side in front.

11. Aaron Grandidier-Nkanang – 8.5
Picked the pockets of Declan Meredith and Tom Wright for a sublime debut try on the back of a speculative Ntamack kick through. The Olympic gold medallist showed plenty of variety with his kicking game, ability in the air and, of course, his lethal running game. Pulling off a two try performance on debut is quite something.

12. Yoram Moefana – 8.5
Fast becoming one of the key operators in this French squad, the Bordeaux centre made chunk yards with each carry. Sitting near the top of the defenders-beaten and offload charts, Moefana’s biggest strength might just be his ability to straighten the line and maintain the space for France’s dangerous outside backs. This was never more evident than during his dynamic break in the 49th minute in the build-up to Grandidier-Nkanang’s second try.

13. Fabien Brau-Boirie – 7
Sizzling in attack, but a touch inconsistent defensively, with a few avoidable missed tackles putting his side under significant pressure. Starting with the positives, the young centre routinely got his hands free in contact and ran beautiful lines off his centre partner.

14. Théo Attissogbe – 9
Incredibly dangerous with each touch, the Pau flyer has a magical ability to glide through contact without ever losing momentum. Romping away for an easy try in the 73rd minute was just reward for a performance in which he made over 100 metres, beat multiple defenders, topped the offload charts and was simply unplayable at times.

15. Matthieu Jalibert – 8.5
Started perfectly with a pair of metre-making carries in the build-up to Meafou’s opening try. With ball in hand, his ability to switch with Ntamack and change the attacking picture gave the French as close to a like-for-like replacement for Thomas Ramos as possible. Defensively, things were not quite as rosy early on, with Tom Wright, in particular, exposing his positioning with a pair of monster 50:22 kicks in the first half. On balance, his incredible attacking interventions far outweighed any defensive issues.

Substitutes
16. Maxime Lamothe – 7.5
Hit his markers at line-out time, got through 10 tackles and had a few nice rumbles with ball in hand, beating a defender and shipping a well-executed offload.

17. Jefferson Poirot – 7
Matching the impact of his fellow front-row replacements, the UBB loosehead produced a big-time defensive showing with 12 tackles. His ability to get to the breakdown quickly was notable.

18. Tevita Tatafu – 7
Upped the ante significantly with a big defensive shift, making 11 tackles and three carries. Similar to the starters, he had his hands full at scrum time but was, on balance, a real impact player.

19. Hugo Auradou – 5
Came on for a quick nine-minute cameo, making four tackles, but conceded a penalty in a match that was already wrapped up.

20. Tom Staniforth – 7
Carried with some extra oomph into his countrymen. The former U20 Wallabies skipper was a monster from the bench.

21. Killian Tixeront – 6
Got through a mountain of defensive work with 12 carries and was a notable figure around the breakdown in France’s battle with Fraser McReight and company.

22. Nolann Le Garrec – 7
Made a searing break with his first touches and enjoyed what had become an armchair ride behind a dominant pack late in the second half.

23. Kalvin Gourgues – 8
Clearly the standout replacement, the Toulouse centre relished the open space in what had become a fast and loose contest. His stunning footwork and slick hands set up Attissogbe’s try.