Australia vs France 2014 series

thomond2006

Teams for the 1st Test in Brisbane:

Australia:
15 Israel Folau, 14 Adam Ashley-Cooper, 13 Tevita Kuridrani, 12 Matt Toomua, 11 Nick Cummins, 10 Bernard Foley,
9 Nic White, 8 Wycliff Palu, 7 Michael Hooper, 6 Scott Fardy, 5 Sam Carter, 4 Rob Simmons, 3 Sekope Peku, 2 Stephen Moore (c), 1 James Slipper

Replacements: 16 Tatafu Polota-Nau, 17 Pek Cowan, 18 Paddy Ryan, 19 James Horwill, 20 Ben McCalman, 21 Nick Phipps, 22 Kurtley Beale, 23 Pat McCabe

France:
15 Hugo Bonneval, 14 Yoann Huget, 13 Gaël Fickou , 12 Wesley Fofana, 11 Felix le Bourhis, 10 Frederic Michalak, 9 Maxime Machenaud,
8 Damien Chouly, 7 Bernard le Roux, 6 Fulgence Ouedraogo, 5 Yoann Maestri, 4 Sébastien Vahaamahina, 3 Nicolas Mas (c), 2 Guilhem Guirado, 1 Thomas Domingo.

Replacements:16 Christopher Tolofua, 17 Vincent Debaty, 18 Rabah Slimani, 19 Alexandre Flanquart, 20 Antoine Burban, 21 Morgan Parra, 22 Remi Lamerat, 23 Brice Dulin.

Michalak starts at 10 for France. He didn't figure in Toulon's recent finals but had been in good form previously. Bordeaux's Felix Le Bourhis, normally a centre, gets his first cap on the wing. Only Remi Lamerat and Brice Dulin on the bench were involved in last week's Top14 final.

.ak

What day is this?

awec

.ak wrote: »

What day is this?

It's Wednesday.

CIARAN_BOYLE

.ak wrote: »

What day is this?

Match is on saturday

.ak

awec wrote: »

It's Wednesday.

I've got to go think about some things.

Swiwi.

Great to see the Top 14 champions' dominance rewarded in that French starting XV.

The main Australian interest has to be in their halves pairing: Nic White has been underwhelming (even soporific) to date, and Foley reminds me of Madigan: capable of some glorious attacking plays, but doubts remain about game management, kicking under pressure, and what to do when the forward pack is on the back foot.

Fofana & Fickou is tasty.

LostArt

Handicap betting is at 11 points at the moment for this game, pretty tempting!

sydthebeat

is bastareaud rested?

thomond2006

sydthebeat wrote: »

is bastareaud rested?

Yes

19543261

Any views on how Australia are looking going into this?

The Pheasant2

No Dusatoir for France is obviously a big blow; also Picamoles left out... possible that Louis doesn't see eye to eye with PSA?

GiftofGab

Genia dropped!! Definitely worth a bet for Cummins and Folau to score in 80mins

Swiwi.

GiftofGab wrote: »

Genia dropped!! Definitely worth a bet for Cummins and Folau to score in 80mins

You'll get €1.01 for Folau to score. And probably €1.05 for Cummins.

In answer to 19543261, I think Australia have pretty much chosen the best pack available to them, and their backs will be dangerous, however I'm not convinced about their halves. Likewise, Foley doesn't strike me as a world class goalkicker.

Aussie to win by 10-15 points I would think. France have a poor record in Australia, with a number of thrashings.

Hooper & Folau to star.

matthew8

Australia should probably kick on after a good Autumn series, but with the spine ripped out of that side (Horwill, Genia, Cooper) they might not quite be the same.

Kiwi_knock

McKenzie has largely stuck to his pledge to only pick players that are in form. That means no place for Higginbotham, Lealiifano, and Genia. If Genia had not been so impressive last weekend, his omission might not have been so much of a shock. To be fair White and Phipps have looked far better than him, both on attack and in defence. White admitted his previous international performances were shocking, so maybe he will look to be more attacking in this series. Foley's experience of being part of McKenzie's squad gained him an advantage over Beale. Could have made an argument for AAC to 13 and Horne to 14 but it is probably right to stick to the backline that were successful in November. Carter is probably the only real surprise in the team. I figured Horwill would be dropped but thought it would have been Jones or Skelton coming into the team.

It should be an Aussie win but you can never tell with France.

thomond2006

Kick off at 11am. G'wan Freddy!

matthew8

They are expecting 29k for this match, a record low for Suncorp for Aussies. 29k would look empty.

Taco Corp

thomond2006 wrote: »

Kick off at 11am. G'wan Freddy!

are we going to see some big performances from France this series?

Hagz

I love that Australia jersey. Real throwback.

19543261

Wait, who is Bourhis again? edit: bordeaux, right

awec

matthew8 wrote: »

They are expecting 29k for this match, a record low for Suncorp for Aussies. 29k would look empty.

Why so low - aussies just not interested in France?

Swan Curry

Aussies just not interested in rugby union

Ugo Monye spacecraft experience

awec wrote: »

Why so low - aussies just not interested in France?

Not interested in Union

matthew8

awec wrote: »

Why so low - aussies just not interested in France?

Aussies not interested in rugby it seems. I'd say they would get way more though if the Reds were keeping them interested in the game and Horwill, Genia and Cooper were still at the centre of the side.

Poor marketing too I've heard.

thomond2006

Great restart from Freddy

And a DG!

errlloyd

Sad about Moore.

Great first 5 though

Kiwi_knock

Horrible for Moore, big test for Polota Nau

Ugo Monye spacecraft experience

Is an out of form Genia not better than White!?

Grimebox

Bizarre seeing Michalak starting

matthew8

Such a missed opportunity.

Ugo Monye spacecraft experience

Has Freddie finally turned up for a test game? That was magic

thomond2006

Great play

Davei141

France have started very well.

thomond2006

Le Bourhis is going to be targeted, he's a centre playing on the wing.

lazybones32

matthew8 wrote: »

Aussies not interested in rugby it seems. I'd say they would get way more though if the Reds were keeping them interested in the game and Horwill, Genia and Cooper were still at the centre of the side.

Poor marketing too I've heard.

Rugby Union is less important in Aus: Soccer, Aussie Rules, Rugby League, Cricket and then R Union.
To be in the Top 3 Teams in the World, for the least popular sport in a Continent with under 15 million people speaks volumes about them though.

thomond2006

Another restart on the money from Freddy

matthew8

The Michalak display begins.

Tox56

matthew8 wrote: »

The Michalak display begins.

Always best with this background music

awec

Just how good is Folau?

matthew8

That is one of the best finishes you'll ever see.

Kiwi_knock

No stopping Folau from there.

Swiwi.

Like I said €1.01 for Folau to score

thomond2006

Unstoppable!

Grimebox

Folau reminds me of a younger version of myself

umop.episdn

Grimebox wrote: »

Folau reminds me of a younger version of myself

Bad haircut too?

Swiwi.

The worlds most deadly back is Folau.

LostArt

Folau is just a joy to watch

Kiwi_knock

Lovely offload by Toomua

matthew8

Like clockwork. A strong opening period for France but they're falling apart. Hope Joubert goes back and cards the high tackler.

awec

Aussies are up for this then. Could be a long game for France looking at this.

Taco Corp

some great passes from White in the build up