The Wallabies won the first Test against France at Melbourne's Colonial Stadium by 29-17 after leading 23-9 at the break, with "new" Matt Burke contributing 19 points with his deadly right boot, slotting seven from seven attempts at goal.
The home team thoroughly deserved to win, and although the matched turned a bit dour after the break, their composure and poise will have coach Eddie Jones smiling with the 2002 Tri-Nations around the corner.
Les Bleus did have very little luck during the game, but it would have been foolish to think that they could beat the world champions without a solid foundation up front.
And that is where the visitors' woes started, with the Australians getting the upper hand in the loose, largely thanks to loose forwards Toutai Kefu and Owen Finegan, and when he came on later, David Lyons, who probed the French defence with bullocking runs as well as strong work on defence.
Tighthead prop Patricio Noriega, back in the Wallaby Gold for the first time since 1999, also had a good game for the home team.
As a result the visitors had difficulty gaining, and then controlling their possession, which made life easier for a Wallaby team showing signs of brilliance as well as stuttering at times.
At the back, George Gregan and Stephen Larkham -- who was very close to his brilliant best -- had good ball to feed Daniel Herbert and Matt Burke in the centres.
And with the two big midfielders also making life difficult for the French, outside backs Stirling Mortlock, who looked very dangerous at left-wing, and Chris Latham could attack with vigour. Wendell Sailor, whose selection attracted criticism from former Wallaby great David Campese, had a quiet debut on the right-wing.
The Six Nations champions' loose forwards -- No.8 Imanol Harinordoquy and flanks Olivier Magne and Serge Betsen -- did what they could to stop the Wallabies' forward surge, while outside centre Tony Marsh and right-wing Aurélien Rougerie gave their all at the back.
With their pack going backwards, the French halfbacks struggled to get go-forward for their team against their more experienced counterparts, and a late flurry of points in the first-half set the Wallabies up for the second stanza with a comfortable 23-9 lead.
The home team scored two tries before the break, capitalising on their territorial and possessional advantage.
The first try -- by fullback Chris Latham -- came with the scores tied at 3-3 after Damien Traille and Burke traded early penalties.
The Australians were slowly gaining ascendancy in the loose, thanks to brilliant play by No.8 Kefu and blindsider Owen Finegan, when they got a good attacking line-out deep in French territory.
Scrumhalf and skipper George Gregan spun the ball wide and when Stirling Mortlock drew two defenders on him, his clever pass unleashed a storming Latham on the left. The French cover defenders did get to the Wallaby fullback, but it was too late and the television match official decided that Latham had scored a fair try.
The conversion and a further penalty by Burke increased the home team's lead to 13-3, but France clawed their way back into the game via two penalties by flyhalf François Gelez.
Traille missed his second attempt from 50 metres out, and minutes later Australia hit back with their second try -- a superb solo-effort by flyhalf Stephen Larkham.
With dummy-runners going all over the show, Larkham slipped through attempted tackles from Gelez and Rougerie from a line-out to score the try, which Burke converted.
After the first-half produced 32 points, the 40 minutes after the break were much tighter, and saw just 14 points -- eight to France -- being scored.
The visitors also scored the only try of the second-half when replacement prop Jean-Baptiste Poux bulldozed his way over from a ruck close to the Wallabies' line.
But with 10 minutes left on the clock and the juice running low after a strenuous travel schedule, the French probably left their charge a little too late.
The Wallabies are now in the driving seat ahead of next weekend's second Test in Sydney, while for French coach Bernard Laporte it's back to the drawing board after two successive defeats for his Six Nations champions.
Man of the match: Toutai Kefu and Stephen Larkham played superb rugby for the Wallabies, while Imanol Harinordoquy was a one-man show for France. But with his personal points-haul of 19, Australian outside centre Matt Burke made sure the French never really came within striking distance of the home team. We doff our caps to Burke for his 100 percent kicking record.
Moment of the match: When Stephen Larkham burst through the strong French right-wing Aurélien Rougerie for his side's second try, the Wallabies advanced to a comfortable lead shortly before the break, which they held onto for the duration of the match.
Villain of the match: There were a lot of scuffles, with Serge Betsen and Justin Harrison getting involved, as well as lots of penalties for stupid infringements like joining the ruck from the side or not releasing the ball on the ground, but nobody really deserved the title of villain of the match.
The teams:
Australia: 1 Patricio Noriega, 2 Jeremy Paul, 3 Bill Young, 4 Justin Harrison, 5 Nathan Sharpe, 6 Owen Finegan, 7 George Smith, 8 Toutai Kefu, 9 George Gregan (c), 10 Steve Larkham, 11 Stirling Mortlock, 12 Matthew Burke, 13 Dan Herbert, 14 Wendell Sailor, 15 Chris Latham
Reserves: Brendan Cannon, Matt Cockbain, Elton Flatley, Rod Moore, Mat Rogers, David Lyons
Unused: Chris Whitaker
France: 1 Sylvain Marconnet, 2 Olivier Azam, 3 Arnaud Martinez, 4 Fabien Pelous (c), 5 Christophe Porcu, 6 Serge Betsen Tchoua, 7 Olivier Magne, 8 Imanol Harinordoquy, 9 Frederic Michalak, 10 Francois Gelez, 11 Aurelien Rougerie, 12 Tony Marsh, 13 Damien Traille, 14 Nicolas Jeanjean, 15 Pepito Elhorga
Reserves: Olivier Brouzet, Raphael Ibanez, Yannick Jauzion, Christian Labit, Jean-Baptiste Poux
Unused: Gerald Merceron, Pierre Mignoni
Attendance: 37482
Referee: White c.
Points Scorers
Australia
Tries: Latham C.E. 1, Larkham S.J. 1
Conv: Burke M.C. 2
Pen K.: Burke M.C. 5
France
Tries: Poux J-B. 1
Pen K.: Traille D. 1, Gelez F. 3
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