Giteau spearheads Wallabies to victory
By Jim Morton, 6 Jul 2008
- Tagged:
- Adam Ashley-Cooper, Berrick Barnes, Brumbies, Cameron Shepherd, Chris Latham, Drew Mitchell, Force, France, Julian Huxley, Luke Burgess, Matt Giteau, robbie deans, Rugby Union, Ryan Cross, Stephen Moore
Wallabies playmaker Matt Giteau regained his mojo tonight to spearhead Australia to a record 40-10 Test blitz of France at Suncorp Stadium.
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Giteau set up all four Australian tries and kicked eight from eight with the boot for a personal haul of 20 points to ensure a 2-0 series whitewash for the Wallabies.
It was easily Australia’s best performance under new coach Robbie Deans who would have been well pleased with the match as a Tri-Nations warm-up.
But the display was tarnished by injuries, including a broken leg for luckless replacement back Cameron Shepherd.
Centre Berrick Barnes (shoulder) and lock James Horwill (eye socket) were also sent to hospital for precautionary scans as reserve Ryan Cross flashed over for two second-half tries from Giteau cut-out passes.
Expected to put up a much stiffer fight than in the 34-13 loss in Sydney last weekend, the French were their own worst enemies throughout the match.
Terrible first-half ball handling was compounded by ill-discipline under immense Australian pressure at the breakdown, while the visitors also conceded a tight-head to the Wallabies scrum.
The 30-point victory eclipsed the Wallabies’ 35-12 1999 World Cup final win as their biggest over Les Bleus.
Australia’s highest-paid rugby player, Giteau, who produced one of his most forgettable halves of Test rugby last week, was on song from the outset.
He opened the home side’s account in just the third minute with an angled penalty goal, his first of four three-pointers in a dominant opening half.
The Wallabies first five-pointer came soon after when in-form local winger Peter Hynes scored a cherished maiden Test try in front of his 40,218-strong home crowd.
Sharp vision and a perfectly-placed cross-field kick by Giteau gave Hynes an easy take and run to the right corner after a slick lineout drive.
A wild brawl just before half-time drew Australian blood and showed some of Les Bleus’ renowned passion still existed in their last game of a long season.
Horwill, only minutes after finishing a brilliant try, was forced into the blood bin after being on the receiving end of a flurry of Imanol Harinordoquy upper-cuts.
Horwill, who played no further part in the match, was penalised for sparking the all-in brawl by running into a fracas between hooker Stephen Moore and the French flankers.
When Giteau latched on to a charged down Luke Burgess pass and spun his way through the defence before flicking a pass to Horwill in the 36th minute, Australia seemed as good as home at 26-0.
The only joy the off-key tourists had was a counter-attacking try on fulltime to five-eighth Francois Trin-Duc after a Wallabies turnover.
Skipper Stirling Mortlock cut a happy figure at the end of the match, impressed by his side’s improvement on their opening two Tests of 2008 and proud of the second-half defence.
“We take a lot bit of pride in our defence and I think that showed tonight,” Mortlock said.
“We were very disappointed to concede that late try but that came from a turnover when we were on attack.
“I’m incredibly impressed with all the spirited defence.”
Shepherd’s fracture, sustained when he was tackled at the end of a half-break, is a heart-breaking blow to the man who was expected to be Australia’s fullback for the Tri-Nations.
The Wallabies selectors will announce their Tri-Nations squad on Monday and will have to think long and hard about who to include as cover for Adam Ashley-Cooper who produced a solid game in the No.15 jersey tonight.
With World Cup fullbacks Chris Latham (shoulder) and Julian Huxley (brain tumour) sidelined, Western Force winger Drew Mitchell and Brumbies back Mark Gerrard will come into calculations for the position.
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July 6th 2008 @ 9:41am
LL said | July 6th 2008 @ 9:41am | Report comment
Big win for the Wallbies but their tight five is feared by no-one and that weakness exposed by an average England outfit last year cannot be fixed in time for this year’s tri-nations. In contrast to the brutal test between the Boks and the Blacks, Horwill was smooching Giteau and then tried to cry to the ref after cowering when his head was pummelled after stepping in…..This is of course the Queensland captain and the team’s self-styled “enforcer”??? Pity Dan Vickerman wasn’t there to throw a text book at them….beyond that pansy front five of course Palu is the man about town playing Sydney club footy but strangely goes missing when the likes of Burger and Lauaki come calling…
July 6th 2008 @ 9:50am
matta said | July 6th 2008 @ 9:50am | Report comment
Just a point here – and yes I have said this on another post..
It wasnt Harinordoquy’s punches that did the damnge. If you get a chance have a look..Horwills head gear comes off in the scuffle so its hard to see but after copping a few from Harinordoquay Horwill breaks free and gets king hit from behind by the French Tight Head.. its a real cheap shot.. if you have Foxtel IQ have a look….
July 6th 2008 @ 9:57am
GregC said | July 6th 2008 @ 9:57am | Report comment
LL
Yes, it is of course all about Burger and Lauaki and when they ‘come calling’, or whatever they do in Orc Country…whoooo…smooching…cowering….pummelled…’enforcer’…it’s all there….’brutal’…well done LL for stringing some sort of sentences between adjectives that somehow, so incredibly and intelligently, rhetorically point out your strawman point. Mmmm, we are all so scared….Burger and Lauaki…so damn scary.
JC
July 6th 2008 @ 9:57am
matta said | July 6th 2008 @ 9:57am | Report comment
sorry – you can see it on the video above – about 1.38 in.
July 6th 2008 @ 10:01am
matta said | July 6th 2008 @ 10:01am | Report comment
yep interesting that he used Lauaki as fire power when he was making a point about Palu ‘going missing’… if he knew anything about the game he would know thats Lauakis biggest problem.. even at Super 14 level he has a long history of going missing
July 6th 2008 @ 10:13am
John said | July 6th 2008 @ 10:13am | Report comment
LL
Talking to a mate of mine before the Test on Sat and my argument was that there wasnt anyone in the tight 5 that you would want in the trenches with you. His counter was that the game had changed and the forward clashes were now tame anyway with video footage, no rucking , touch judges coming in etc. But as I said to him that aspect wasnt really my point. There are some players whose mere presence can have an intimidating influence. The Aust media talks up Horwill, McMenniman and sometimes Mumm for their aggression. They do talk and push and shove but do you think the ABs, Boks and England forwards would be quivering in their boots? The hard forwards are the ones who use every ounce of their body to drive into opponents, who take a no nonsense approach to their footy like the Tony Carrolls of the Broncos. Its not about throwing punches but about physical and mental toughness. A hypothetical question I ask is would Deans like some of the attitude of AB forwards in his Aust forwards.
July 6th 2008 @ 12:33pm
joeb said | July 6th 2008 @ 12:33pm | Report comment
“A hypothetical question I ask is would Deans like some of the attitude of AB forwards in his Aust forwards.”
Deans stressed in the post-mortem it’ll be a step-up in two weeks time; the team will have to match the physicality of their opponents (they’re under no illusion).
Done it before. Can’t see why we can’t do it again.
BTW, “Prop Renaud Boyoud and Number eight Imanol Harinordoquy will appear before Judicial Officer Christopher Quinlan at the Queensland Rugby Union offices at Ballymore on Sunday.” – PR.
Don’t referees send players off anymore for foul play? Who was the touchie on the left side of the field? And how come Harinordoquy got away with that late arm around the throat of Turner without even a penalty?
July 6th 2008 @ 1:51pm
jimbo said | July 6th 2008 @ 1:51pm | Report comment
Good result and some positives came out of the game.
Giteau kicked well and was our spearhead in many ways.
The forwards were starting to look at bit more organised, particularly in broken play and in defence.
But I think Le Blue won the fights and Horwill will think twice about playing a cavalry role in the next melee he’s involved in.
Lets not kid ourselves, this was a pretty ordinary French team that we beat convincingly and we’re still looking good for the Bronze Medal in the Tri-Nations.
July 6th 2008 @ 2:02pm
stillmissit said | July 6th 2008 @ 2:02pm | Report comment
LL – Dont go making a goose of yourself. The days of enforcers is over, the only way you can intimidate anyone is with a hard tackle. Burger is hardly a hard man in the Jerry Collins mould, he is a ball pilferer and yard maker. Never seen Lauaki throw a punch so dont know what you are talking about. Bakkies Botha and Brad Thorn are hard men but not scary like Steve Finnane or Richard Loe was.
Horwill learnt a lesson last night and he wont lose any points by what happened. I thought the ref was going to send off both Horwill and Harinordoquy which would have been a sensible solution to that issue. Unusual for anyone to get a hit on in those arm swinging affairs, so maybe Horwill was unlucky.
Matta didnt see the king hit from behind but it is not unknown by the French. At least they dont eye gouge anymore.
July 6th 2008 @ 2:37pm
Sam Taulelei said | July 6th 2008 @ 2:37pm | Report comment
Damn hard to objectively assess games against such weakened teams like France when they’re missing so many test regulars. But I liked the Aussie’s strong defense, their enthusiasm, stronger first half performance and clinical finishing. They have shown steady signs of improvement since their first test against Ireland and know that the Tri Nations will be another step up but then so did the All Blacks and the Boks, it will always be that way.
Of some concern will be the advantage of possession they conceded to the French. They won’t want to repeat that against much stronger opposition who have the ability to use the ball better than the French and score tries. But their defence is well organised and strong which is always a good sign of teamwork in spite of the disorganised attacks by the French.
They’re building nicely and will be the biggest improvers by years end.