The Wallabies achieved a clean sweep in their three-Test series with France as they beat them 39-13 in Sydney on Saturday. The win takes Australia to seven consecutive Test victories for the first time since 2000.
The 43 188 fans set a record for the largest Test Rugby crowd ever to attend the Allianz stadium, and their side didn’t disappoint as they dominated territory and possession and played some great rugby. Israel Folau was on the scoresheet yet again, scoring twice, as was debutant Will Skelton.
Skelton, who has had a prolific rise to international rugby, scored a powerful try but also set up fullback Folau with a neat little pass. He chatted to Nick Cummins post match, which you can see on page two (or below). It includes his Cap presentation and some nice moments within the team.
The Wallabies scored five tries to one, which pleased coach Ewen Mckenzie after last weekend’s dire encounter between the two sides in Melbourne. “We dominated possession and territory and while we didn’t make the most of every opportunity, I was pretty happy with the intent,” he said.
France now have a break but must pick up the pieces ahead of the end of year tours, Six Nations and then the Rugby World Cup. Coach Philippe Saint-Andre admitted that they had been outplayed by Australia, even though they did well to keep things close last weekend.
“Today Australia win all the contact areas, they go forward all the time, they had more urgency, more skill so congratulations to them. It was the end of a long season for our players but there is a game in Paris in November and they will see one French team that is completely different.”
Honey Badger Nick Cummins chatted to big Will Skelton, and there is also a quick look at the cap presentation following the Waratahs lock’s first game for Australia. Coach McKenzie said he was very impressed with what he saw out there.
“He had a significant influence on a Test match against a Tier One country and that’s his first game. You can’t do much more than that – play one Test, score one try and set up another. He’s a hard guy to handle. He’s pretty athletic. He got out of some tricky situations.
“They certainly put some pressure on him and I thought he got through the pace and tempo of the game pretty well too. He did a good job.
“We choose players because they can do certain things and his skill was very interesting and we saw evidence of that today. We saw him carrying the ball and the try-assist was pretty special too.
“He’s got a fairly unique approach to the game and that’s something we employed today. He gave us something to think about,” added McKenzie.
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