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'We're letting ourselves down': Wallabies McDermott on loss to France
The Wallabies have crashed to a disappointing 41-17 loss to France in their Rugby World Cup warm-up Test in Paris, leaving them with plenty of work before their opening match against Georgia.
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Coach Eddie Jones may be ruing his decision to leave a noted goal-kicker out of his starting 15, with rookie five-eighth Carter Gordon missing some crucial kicks at Stade de France.
Australia’s discipline was also a major issue, conceding 14 penalties for France to keep the points ticking over with the team continuing their winless record this year from five Tests since Jones took over.
Halfback Tate McDermott said his team were “letting themselves down”.
“There were a couple of penalties that just relieved pressure and against a team like France, with the skill of their backs, we just gifted them field position and to their credit they capitalised on those errors,” the vice-captain told Stan Sport.
“The solutions have got to come from us – Eddie is doing his best but we’re letting ourselves down out there.
“We’ve got two weeks to find a solution for Georgia because they’re a bloody good side so we’ve got to make sure we front there.”
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The Wallabies scored three tries against France’s four but never looked like beating one of the tournament favourites.
They trailed 16-5 at halftime, with Gordon leaving eight points on the field after failing with a try conversion plus two penalty kicks which meant the Wallabies couldn’t apply any scoreboard pressure.
France opened the scoring with blockbusting centre Jonathan Danty crashing over in the sixth minute off a line-out.
Mark Nawaqanitawase was the Wallabies sole try-scorer of the first half, coming off a beautifully-worked set move, with Andrew Kellaway finding the winger with a long pass.
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Les Bleus skipper Antoine Dupont set up his team’s first try of the second half with a pin-point cross-field kick into the arms of centre Damian Penaud, who added a second later in the half.
Wallabies flanker Fraser McReight dived across under the posts but France immediately replied through winger Gabin Villiere to push the lead out to a commanding 31-12.
Some positives that Australia can take from their final hit-out was their scrum, which got the better of the French through starting props Taniela Tupou and Angus Bell.
The Wallabies maul, however, was a mess and their line-out sloppy.
Former NRL star Suliasi Vunivalu, who was a shock World Cup selection, also had his best performance in the gold jumper, scoring a 77th minute try.
Heavily involved, he was unlucky to get a yellow card early in the second half after getting tangled at a ruck and pinged for going off his feet.
The Wallabies will now regroup and look ahead to their World Cup opener against Georgia, also at Stade de France, on Sunday September 10 (AEST).
Comments on RugbyPass
Let’s not forget about Ardie Savea just yet.
4 Go to commentsThe URC and the Euro Championscup can’t run at the same time, basically dilutes both competitions.
1 Go to comments“While Sotutu should start at No.8 for the All Blacks against England, but it’s only in that arena that he can prove just how good he really is.” And that my friends is where simply hasnt shone despite multiple opportunities. Even in this performance you can see what did him in in the test arena..he almost always still runs at the opposition almost ramrod upright making him easier to stop than it should be.
4 Go to commentsShould have been 0-0 and a message from SR CEO to both teams - “don’t worry about turning up next year”.
4 Go to commentsGreat work Owen Franks. A great of this team, scoring his first try for the Crusaders since 2010.He was beaming, justifiably. A fine win, he and the rest did the job up front.
1 Go to commentsDanny Care. Lang in die tand.
1 Go to commentsBig empty stadium does nothing for atmosphere but munster are playing well with solid performance
1 Go to commentsYes, Fiji can win the World Cup! With that belief plus their christian faith🙏 and hard work it is achievable. Great article. Ian Duncan Fiji resident 1981-84
2 Go to commentsInteresting comments about Touch. England’s hosting the Touch World Cup this year and the numbers have exploded since their last World Cup in 2019, something like 70% more teams and 40 nations taking part. And England Touch have made a big thing about how many universities are in their BUCS University Touch Championship as well as Sport England membership. Can only see this growing even more domestically as more people become aware of it
10 Go to comments“Cortez Ratima is light years ahead of anyone on current form, while TJ Perenara has also skyrocketed into contention following the unfortunate injury to the talented Cam Roigard.” At last some sanity. Hitherto so many pundits have been wittering on about Finlay Christie to the point one wondered if they were observing a FC in a parallel universe where the FC they saw wasnt just the mediocre Shayne Philpott project of Fosters hapless AB reign in the real world. Ratima, Perenara and Fakatava are the ONLY logical 9s for Razor now Roigard is crocked.
4 Go to commentsThis game was just as painful as the Hurricanes game. It was real fork-in-the-eye stuff.
4 Go to commentsNow if they could just fire the Crusaders ground PA guy who likes to play his dance music and just loves the sound of his own voice the entire game, even when play is going on. And I thought their brass band thing of a few years ago was bad.
5 Go to commentsUnfortunately when you lose by far the two form players this season in Roigard and Aumua, you're left replacing two game changing Tanks with a couple of pea-shooters. Which is also about the speed of TJs pass.
4 Go to commentsBit rich coming from the guy with zero loyalty to anyone or any team, including happily taking a players place in a league world cup squad because well, SBW wanted to play in it and thus an already named player got told he was no longer going. And airing stuff like this, which may or may not be true, doesn't exactly say you're a stand up guy either SBW. Just looking to keep his name in lights as usual.
38 Go to commentsTamati Tua. …the Taniwha NPC midfielder. Ollie Sapsford, Hawkes Bay NPC midfielder…doing well
4 Go to commentsFiji deserve to be in the rugby championship, fans love seeing the Fijian national team play, the Fijian Drua is a wonderful idea but the players can still be stolen to play for NZ and AUS…
2 Go to commentsThe first concern for this afternoon are wheather forecast…
1 Go to commentsWhy cant I watch Rugby games please?
1 Go to commentsBeautiful shot from Finau, end of story. Gutted for Shaun Stevenson though.
4 Go to commentsThe Chiefs definitely didn’t win ugly. They had the superior scrum, a dominant lineout, and their defence was excellent once the Waratahs scored their two tries (thanks to some lucky refereeing calls mind you). They put pressure on the Waratahs lineout throughout the game, and the mind boggles as to why the referee did not award a yellow card or a penalty try against the Waratahs for repeated scrum infringements on their own try line before Narawa’s first try. And the Chiefs were slick with their passing and running angles on attack. It was a dominant performance all round, even with many questionable refereeing decisions.
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