Key battles won and lost: Eva Karpani leads from the front in Wallaroos win

While France came into this game riding high, and Australia were smarting from a tough loss to England, the Wallaroos gained momentum early and rode it out, despite a pair of late French tries, to finish 20-29. Eva Karpani, Australia’s imperious tighthead prop, was the driving force behind an impressive win that showed her team are truly on the rise.
So where did the Wallaroos take the advantage and where did France still shine? Lets break it down.

Front Row – Advantage Australia
Karpani was a player on a mission in this game. Scoring a hattrick, showing nous in a few moments where she made sure to be slow to let tackled players up and back into the French defensive line and carrying hard time and again. A pretty much flawless performance.
France’s front row did their fair share of work in the loose and were solid, without excelling, in the set piece. One of their late consolation tries came from the power of their replacements in a devastating rolling maul.

Second Row – Tied
Both sets of locks worked hard, the Wallaroos fixed their lineout issues after misfiring against the Red Roses last week and France’s Madoussou Fall was her usual imperious presence.

Back Row – Advantage Australia
A closely fought battle here with both teams loose forwards really making their mark on the game. France’s Gaelle Hermet was a constant nuisance for the Wallaroos and Charlotte Escudero was dangerous when opportunity came her way.
For Australia the hard running Kaitlin Leaney continually punched holes and Emily Chancellor was a force to be reckoned with at the breakdown

Half backs – Advantage Australia
Carys Dallinger and Layne Morgan found their rhythm in this game and were catalysts time and again for Australia to push ahead.
France perked up when Pauline Bourdon-Sansus was introduced, but decision making was an issue for them all game and despite their late resurgence it cost them victory.

Centres – Tied
Gabrille Vernier, bafflingly confined to the bench for France, showed her quality with a last-minute try for France. Fans will wonder why one of the best players in the game wasn’t involved earlier, though Marine Menager wasn’t shy of grafting either, with a lovely final pass to assist with France’s first try.
Arabella Mackenzie grew into her secondary playmaker role for Australia as the game went on, taking on kicking duties and always looking for space for her team. Georgina Friedrichs showed her classs with a nicely put together first half try.

Outside Backs – Advantage France
While the Wallaroos wings showed speed and guile, they didn’t see enough of the ball to truly impose themselves on the game.
For France, many of their best moments came out wide, Emilie Boulard opened up the scoring for her team and was consistently threatening on the left flank while Morgane Bourgeois was impressive at full back and ensured the scoreline wasn’t more heavily stacked against her team.