‘We’re not far away’: Wallabies captain Wilson reacts to France defeat

The Wallabies’ search for a drought-breaking win continues after falling to reigning Six Nations champions France 42-26 in Brisbane, but captain Harry Wilson believes the team isn’t far away from turning promising performances into results.

Fraser McReight crossed for two tries during the first half, as the Wallabies took a clinical nine-point lead into the break at Brisbane’s Suncorp Stadium. But Les Bleus delivered a second-half masterclass, piling on 30 unanswered points as they took control of the Test.

Aaron Granddier-Nkanang completed a double on debut, while fly-half Romain Ntamack was also among the try-scorers for the visiting side. Western Force skipper Jeremy Williams crashed over for a consolation Wallabies try with less than five minutes remaining.

Wallabies captain Wilson spoke candidly after full-time, following the team’s ninth loss in their last 10 Tests. In the last two weeks, the Wallabies have produced strong first-half performances against Six Nations heavyweights but haven’t been able to hang on for the full 80.

“It was a very disappointing second half there. We put ourselves in a really good position that first half and there was plenty of confidence at half-time that we could go out there and do a job in the second half,” Wilson told reporters post-game.

“We’re putting some really good patches of footy together but we know rugby depends on the result and we need to be winning Test matches.

“We know that France won the Six Nations, they’re a bloody good team and to be leading them 21-12 at half-time, we put ourselves in a position to beat the best team in the Six Nations.

“But we need to be winning Test matches for our country, that’s what we’re here to do and we haven’t been doing that. As a playing group we feel like we’re letting ourselves down but we know we’re not far away from putting it together but we have to put it together next week.”

France lock Emmanuel Meafou, who attended Ipswich Grammar School in Queensland, touched down for the opener in just the second minute. But the Wallabies it back soon after, with hooker Brandon Paenga-Amosa burrowing over in the ninth minute.

Grandidier-Nkanang beat Declan Meredith in a footrace midway through the first half, as the French regained the lead. But a yellow card to Meafou changed the game, with the Wallabies taking control during the second quarter.

McReight scored twice, as the Wallabies built a 21-12 lead heading into the break. But the second-half was fairly one-way traffic, with captain Maxime Lucu knocking over an early penalty as the point-scoring blitz truly got underway.

Tom Wright was shown a yellow card as the Wallabies went down to 14 men for 10 minutes, before the French piled on another 27 unanswered points. It was a commanding effort from Les Bleus, who have recorded their first win in the Nations Championship.

“I’m sure when we catch up as leaders, leaders with the coaching staff, we’ll be having a chat about anything that’s going to help us put ourselves in a good position to play some really good footy and get a win next week,” Wilson said.

Following defeats to Ireland and now France, the Wallabies have another chance to bounce back next week against Italy in Perth. It’s their third and final Nations Championship match on home soil during the July international window.