On the Wallabies v. France

A few weeks ago I received a call from a family friend to go to the France v. Australia test. It was a chilly night out, but the opportunity to watch the Wallabies stomp on the French was too good to resist. I have a somewhat arbitrary hierarchy of rugby teams I love respect. Australia and New Zealand sit on top... France and South Africa fight it out at the bottom. The French are historically a somewhat devious and dirty team, into unknown for turning what is already quite a physical game into an eye gouging, ruck stomping blood bath.

This game was a test for Australia in many ways. Firstly, we have just secured a new top level coach, charged with the leaden responsibility to turn around a five year slump. Robbie Deans is a Kiwi, we pilfered him because of his ability to loosen up the game, remove formulaic set plays and put the fear of God into even the most seasoned players. The secondly, this game was our last significant international before things became serious with the Tri Nations. The Tri Nations (a series played between Australia, New Zealand and South Africa), and the Bledisloe Cup (the Australia v New Zealand component of the Tri Nations series), are the highlights of the rugby calendar, the best games of rugby all year. Consensus has it that Australia is on the back foot walking in. We needed this game to tighten up our forward pack and loosen up our backs.

I want to make mention of our seats. There is definitely something for sitting in the members' stand. This was the view. A basic summery of the game was that yes we won, but no we didn't hit the goal of being flawless. Our first 15 minutes were shocking, with balls going all over the shop. There were many great plays throughout the game but if the French had had more preparation I am not sure we would have been on such safe ground.

Next Saturday sees Australia play South Africa in Perth. The Tri Nations has begun.