AUSTRALIA issued a warning to their southern-hemisphere rivals ahead of the Tri-Nations series by posting a convincing victory over France in Sydney yesterday.
Matt Giteau scored the only try of the night and kicked a perfect six out of six in an
other commanding performance, while man of the match George Smith dominated at the breakdown.
Having opened up a seven-point buffer at the break, the Wallabies applied the blowtorch to the visitors with Giteau adding four penalties in the opening 17 minutes of the second half to put the result beyond doubt. The hosts continued to press in front of 43,588 fans, but a combination of committed French defence and poor handling prevented a blow-out.
France had not beaten the Wallabies in Australia since 1990 but came into the match with high hopes after drawing their two-Test series against New Zealand this month.
They were missing a handful of first-choice players after a long season in Europe, but were outplayed by an impressive Wallaby team who tackled everything that the French threw at them.
"Our players were very courageous but after two very hard games and 11 months of competition that was one game too many," France coach Marc Lievremont said, speaking through a translator. "Australia are a very good side, they are very well organised, and they were at a different level to us."
JOE Rokocoko scored his first Test try in almost two years as New Zealand bumbled and fumbled to a 27-6 victory over Italy in chilly conditions in Auckland. Isaac Ross recorded his first Test try and set up replacement flanker George Whitelock's try, on debut, after two storming runs in the same movement for the All Blacks.
Fly-half Luke McAlister added three conversions and two penalties for the home side, who played the majority of the game on the back foot and were less than convincing just three weeks out from their first Tri-Nations match against Australia.
Italy full-back Luke McLean converted a penalty in each half for the visitors, who seemed content merely to tackle, disrupt the ball and kick for territory in the match that failed to inspire the small crowd who braved sub-zero conditions.
"The only positive thing we can say about it is that we didn't get any more injuries," said All Blacks assistant coach Steve Hansen. "It was very disappointing. The execution was poor, decision making poor and we just weren't effective across the park."
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