Australia 13 France 14

Marseilles proved a happy hunting ground for France yet again.  At the same venue where they beat the All Blacks in 2000, Fabien Galthié's blue-clad warriors beat the world champions, Australia, by 14-13.

Passion probably won the game for Les Bleus, and with stern defence and determined attacking play France managed to beat the Wallabies for the first time since 1993.

On the night, the Wallabies just did not look like the team that won the Tri-Nations and Bledisloe Cup earlier in the season.

The visitors looked tired and planless, while the French, fresh from their 20-10 drubbing of the Springboks last weekend, played their hearts out, knocking the wind out of the Aussies with crunching tackles.

The home team dominated territory for 60 minutes, and leading 14-6 with 10 minutes on the clock and the Wallabies looking to click into gear, the French had to defend like animals.  But they did, and the Aussies will depart Europe after next weekend's match against the Barbarians with just one win from three Tests, against lowly Spain.

French coach Bernard Laporte stuck with most of the young team that beat the Boks in Paris last Saturday, except at flyhalf, where he brought in the 19-year-old Frédérick Michalak.

The young pivot settled his debut Test nerves quickly with a successful third minute penalty goal.  Although he missed his next three attempts at goal, Michalak played exceptionally well for the home side, showing a lot of promise.

He attacked the line with fervour and got his outside backs away with skilled passes.  Michalak also turned the Wallabies around -- like Jonny Wilkinson did for England last week -- with pinpoint tactical kicking.

Coach Eddie Jones may rue dropping openside flank George Smith for a long time, as Phil Waugh is clearly not in the dreadlocked loose forward's class.

Smith made a huge difference to the Australian cause when the took to the field after half-time, and his ball-poaching skills on the ground saw the visitors win lots of quality ball from rucks in the second half.

But Smith's contribution was not enough and he had to watch helplessly as his teammates threw away good attacking ball with careless handling and unnecessary knock-ons.

Before Smith was there though, the Wallabies had very little ball to play with and when they got going in the opening 40 minutes, they lacked the playmaking skills that has made them the top team in the world for two years now.

In fact, the Wallabies were lucky to be trailing by only 3-11 at the break after the French piled on the pressure before half time.

Were it not for three missed attempts at goal by Frédérick Michalak and one by Damien Traille the Wallabies might even have been further behind at the start of the second half.

The home team also scored the only try of the first half when their New Zealand-born centre Tony Marsh crashed over in the 27th minute after Les Bleus managed to keep the ball moving after a number of phases.

The Australian forwards struggled to stamp their authority on the game in this period, and as a result the French backs ran rampant almost every time they got good attacking ball.

The Wallabies' line-outs were terrible at times and Michael Foley missed his jumpers on more than one occasion.

That caused them to be on the backfoot for most of the game, and coupled with the brilliant play by the French front row, the Wallaby forwards never really got their claws into the game.

Tighthead Pieter de Villiers and hooker Raphaël Ibañez played their hearts out for France.  They were brilliant in the loose, and the main reason the Wallaby forwards were under so much pressure in the game.

They were well supported by Serge Betsen (flank) and Patric Tabacco (No.8) up front, while Galthié, Michalak, Traille and left-wing David Bory plagued the Wallaby backline with brilliant play.

Smith was the best Wallaby on the night, and Stephen Larkham and Chris Latham never gave up at the back.

Ben Tune, who came onto the field for his first Test appearance of the year, scored a last minute try for the visitors, and he also looked hungry for rugby.

Man of the match:  For the youngest player on the field Frédérick Michalak did exceptionally well in his debut Test for the French.  Although he missed a couple of kicks at goal, his general flyhalf play was superb and he over-shadowed his direct opponent Stephen Larkham.  Pieter de Villiers and Raphaël Ibañez also played great rugby for the home team, while George Smith was the Wallabies' best player on the night.

Moment of the match:  After Ben Tune's try, when referee Colin Hawke blew the final whistle, the French team, now with two wins over two top teams in two successive weeks, exploded with joy.  They had won, and can now look forward to the 2002 Six Nations.

Villain of the match:  No-one.  Not even Justin Harrison, who got a bit carried away when the French poached one of his line-out balls in the first-half.

The teams:

Australia:  1 Ben Darwin, 2 Michael Foley, 3 Nic Stiles, 4 David Giffin, 5 Justin Harrison, 6 Owen Finegan, 7 Phil Waugh, 8 Toutai Kefu, 9 Half George Gregan (c), 10 Steve Larkham, 11 Chris Latham, 12 Nathan Grey, 13 Graeme Bond, 14 Joe Roff, 15 Matthew Burke
Reserves:  Brendan Cannon, Matt Cockbain, Elton Flatley, Rod Moore, Ben Tune, George Smith

France:  1 Jean-Jacques Crenca, 2 Raphael Ibanez, 3 Pieter De Villiers, 4 David Auradou, 5 Thibault Privat, 6 Serge Betsen Tchoua, 7 Olivier Magne, 8 Patrick Tabacco, 9 Fabien Galthie (c), 10 Frederic Michalak, 11 Aurelien Rougerie, 12 Tony Marsh, 13 Damien Traille, 14 David Bory, 15 Clement Poitreneaud
Reserves:  Yannick Bru, Nicolas Jeanjean, Lionel Nallet

Referee:  Hawke c.j.

Points Scorers

Australia
Tries:  Tune B.N. 1
Conv:  Flatley E.J. 1
Pen K.:  Burke M.C. 2

France
Tries:  Marsh T. 1
Pen K.:  Michalak F. 1, Traille D. 2