The ever-mercurial Wallabies play hosts to a resurgent France in what should prove a scintillating three-game series down under. 

Two of the world’s most entertaining sides, these titans of world rugby ride into this encounter with aspirations of a World Cup trophy in their near futures. This fixture is as grand as it gets on the World Rugby stage, and while all eyes will be on the Lions vs Boks series, this could be the one with the real fireworks. 

The period since the 2019 World Cup has been a weird time for all rugby nations, but perhaps none more so than Australia. They've played six tests, and tied three of them, two with Argentina, and one with New Zealand. They also have a 2 point win over the All Blacks, so everything should be rosy, right? Wrong - they also suffered 43-5 and 27-7 defeats to New Zealand, and their Super Rugby franchises were all but swept by their Kiwi counterparts in the Trans Tasman series, winning just two from 25 matches. There's been a lot of soul searching in Oz over the state of their Rugby Union, and they badly need a good result in the three-game series vs Northern Hemisphere power, France.

As is often the case, we don't know what to expect out of the French camp. Australia's tight Covid restrictions have meant that the French party has been in hotel quarantine for two weeks, and when they emerge, we will see a host of new faces. Usually, blooding a new group on a trip to one of the big Southern Hemisphere countries is a recipe for disaster (just Google "England Rugby 1998 Tour from Hell"), but this French outfit has a bit of history. Going into the final of the 2020 Autumn Nations Cup, a very inexperienced French lineup was expected to take a heavy beating at the hands of a strong England side. The agreement between the French rugby federation and the Top14 pro clubs meant that France were missing 25 of their front line players, and the whole team could only muster 68 caps. Au contraire, the French led 19-12 with time about to expire, when England were rescued by a very debatable try before going on to win in sudden death overtime. Those in the know might not have been surprised by the French performance, as their age grade teams have been phenomenal over the last few years.  This group looks a lot like that.

Keys to Victory

For Australia, it will be a case of maintaining dominance over France, having won 5 of their last 6 encounters. This is a very new Wallaby team, and there was a lot of optimism in the country following some exciting games in the Australian domestic version of Super Rugby. But then they came up against the New Zealand Super teams and were generally sent home with their tails between their legs. Can they pull themselves together vs France?

For France, they will need to build on the tremendous performance of their 2019 U20 World Champion side. Les Bleus beat Australia 24-23 in that final game, and both teams will take heart from the new blood coming through the ranks.

Players to Watch

Australia will be looking to their dynamic new back row combo of skipper and open side flanker Michael Hooper, 22 year old blindside tyro Rob Valetino, and 8 Man Harry Wilson, a try scorer in that 2019 U20 showdown. Keep an eye also on 21 year old Noah Lolesio winning just his second cap at 10. The wallabies have been searching for a consistent performer at fly half for a decade or more. Bernard Foley won 70 caps between 2013 and 2019 without ever truly making the position his own, and James O'Conner has often looked like a square peg in a round hole since then. Can Lolesio follow in the footsteps of the great Aussie 10s like Mark Ella, Michael Lynagh and Steven Larkham?

France will be giving debut caps to 7 players in this game, and it is a new look side all around. 5 of the starting line up are veterans of that World U20 win - Demba Bamba, Jean-Baptiste Gross, Killian Geraci, Louis Carbonel and Arthur Vincent. Perhaps the man with the biggest shoes fill is scrum half Baptiste Couilloud, the 23 year old filling in for all world performer Antoine Dupont. If Couilloud can marshall the troops as well as Dupont, France could pull an upset over the favored Aussies.

Match Prediction

It's a long way to the Land Down Under, and the French tend not to travel well. The Wallabies have just a bit too much dynamism for a plucky France - 24-19 for the home team.