France vs Australia LIVE rugby: Result and final score as late Damian Penaud try snatches victory
The Wallabies led late after impressive tries from Lalakai Foketi and Jock Campbell, but Damian Penaud’s brilliance seized the win for the French at the death
Damian Penaud scored a late try to give France a hard-fought record 11th consecutive victory as they beat Australia 30-29 at the Stade de France in their autumn international on Saturday.
The Wallabies’ Lalakai Foketi scored a sensational try and Jock Campbell added another with Bernard Foley kicking the rest of the points for the visitors, who did a great job at keeping France‘s mercurial scrumhalf Antoine Dupont in check.
Fabien Galthie’s side however ground through the game and winger Penaud scored the winner to add to Julien Marchand’s try, while Thomas Ramos’s metronomic boot secured their other points.
France, who take on South Africa in Marseille next Saturday, improved on their record of consecutive victories that dated back to the 1930s.
Having not played together since the last Six Nations tournament as the squad who toured Japan in July was largely reshuffled, France lacked their usual bite but somehow pulled off a victory after a rough battle.
Australia, who had recalled experienced flyhalf Foley in August, defended stoutly and attacked when it mattered, only losing their way in the final five minutes.
Foley put the visitors ahead with an early penalty as Australia started strongly, only for Ramos to cancel out the advantage with a 30-metre penalty and then give Les Bleus the lead with a 48-metre kick.
After Foley’s second penalty, France touched down through Charles Ollivon, only for the try to be ruled out for a double movement. Minutes later, Australia effectively scored the first try at the end of a blistering counter attack, Foketi diving over after collecting Tom Wright’s pass inside the French 22.
France had a spell of domination and were rewarded with two Ramos penalties but for the first time in four years Les Bleus faced the prospect of being behind at halftime at the Stade de France.
However, Marchand scored a pivotal try in stoppage time from a strong ruck and Ramos added the extra points to give France a six-point lead at the interval with the score at 19-13.
Foley and Ramos traded penalties early in the second half, but Australia struck the first blow when Campbell went over after a fine collective move before Foley converted to give the Wallabies a one-point advantage and fresh momentum.
Foley kicked for three points again before Ramos also did so and, with five minutes left, Hodge added another penalty to leave France with a try to score for a win that looked elusive. But Penaud beat two tackles to touch down with four minutes left and gave his team another confidence boost a year before the World Cup on home soil.
Scotland 0-0 Fiji, 1 minute
Stuart Hogg’s kick off drops into the hands of Kini Murimurivalu, who beats the first defender, but is handled shortly thereafter. Darcy Graham claims Frank Lomani’s first skyward hoist, and Fiji then infringe at a midfield ruck.
Quick tap! An injection of tempo immediately from Ali Price, and Fiji fail to retreat the required ten before making a tackle.
Yellow card! Blimey - 80 seconds into Ratu Leone Rotuisolia’s international debut and the lock is off for ten minutes on the naughty step. “It’s cynical,” says referee Nic Berry - Scotland opt to kick to the corner with Fiji’s pack down to seven.
Off we go
Right, Scotland to kick everything off. There’s the peep of Nic Berry’s whistle...
The Cibi
The rest of the Fijian squad form a semi-circle around Levani Botia, who leads the Cibi, marching forward in fighting stance and laying down the gauntlet. They’ll fancy this, Fiji - can they deepen Scotland’s worries?
Anthems
Waisea looks to the heavens, eyes closed, as he sings “Meda Dau Doka”. Api Ratuniyarawa clasps his great right fist across his heart.
The piper on the roof leads Murrayfield into “Flower of Scotland”, Jamie Ritchie sending a kiss to the stands after the final line.
Match Officials
Australia’s Nic Berry has the whistle this afternoon, by the way, with compatriot Brett Cronan ready to assist as the TMO. There has been plenty said in the build-up to this autumn about the importance of managing the referee - officials have been urged to prioritise “safety, space and pace” during November.
Here come the teams
Waisea Nayacalevu, who has preferred to be know by his first name during his time in France, heads the Fijian line opposite Jamie Ritchie, who leads Scotland out of the tunnel. A wet morning in Edinburgh means that Murrayfield has been slightly slow to fill, but the fans are streaming in now.
Princess Anne has made her way safely in, clad in a deep-blue double-breasted coat - she’ll share pleasantries with both sides ahead of kick-off. More Scottish royalty - the brass band launch into a cherry rendition of a song by The Proclaimers.
Scotland vs Fiji
The Scottish players have disappeared down the tunnel, ready to strap on the last bits of tape and steel themselves for the contest. Fiji follow them in, breaking into a half-jog. Vern Cotter is hoping that his side can improve within structure to allow themselves to play the unstructured stuff at which they excel. The Fijian Drua developed as the Super Rugby season went on, and there are plenty in Cotter’s pack with high-level European experience. Let’s see how they go - kick-off isn’t far away at all...
Gregor Townsend speaks to Amazon Prime
“You work on things that you need to improve from the previous week but it is a new group. We have focussed on ourselves.
On his returnees: “They are very keen to play, they missed out last week. Some of them are very experienced like Stuart Hogg and Chris Harris, some like Cameron Redpath, it’s his first game at Murrayfield. We are excited to watch them play.
“They have picked more of a running team. We have to create errors in their game through our defence, squeeze them into their half at times. When we have the ball, we have to be accurate - they are the best team in the world with turnover ball.”
The return of Vern
For those who enjoy win percentages, defeat to Australia last week dropped Gregor Townsend’s to 52.54% - below the record mark for a Scottish coach of 52.78% achieved by his predecessor, who is back at Murrayfield this afternoon.
Vern Cotter deserves plenty of credit for stabilising Scottish rugby during his time in charge, and there are plenty who feel his departure might have been a touch premature.
“We need to approach the game with a lot of humility,” Cotter said this week. “We are a tier 2 team playing a tier 1 team that had a game already in their bag. “We are slowly getting together but we want to get learnings from this plus we have the Rugby World Cup next year so it is really important that we put ourselves up against a very good team and I’m sure from we will come away with individual and collective improvements to be made.”
Scotland’s backline replenished
Adam Hastings, Scotland’s own new number ten, has been going rather well for Gloucester, of course. You’d suggest Gregor Townsend will be hoping his fly-half can take control of the game, forcing Fiji to play in dangerous areas and strike when Scotland have their chances. While there are a couple from the starting side last week unfortunate to miss out this, Ollie Smith particularly, the England-based quartet should solidify Townsend’s backline, and it’s nice to see Cameron Redpath fit for international duty - if Scotland are to press ahead without Finn Russell, the Bath playmaker may have to emerge as a key figure.
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