Australia had France exactly where they wanted them, and then let it all slip away. Leading 21-12 at half-time in Brisbane, the Wallabies conceded 30 unanswered points as France surged back to win 42-26, a result that leaves head coach Joe Schmidt staring at an unwelcome slice of history.
Fraser McReight's two tries, added to efforts from Brandon Paenga-Amosa and Jeremy Williams, had the hosts in command at the interval. The game turned when Max Jorgensen was penalised — and then sent to the sin bin — for a tip tackle. France pounced on the numerical edge, scoring three tries in seven devastating minutes to wrench the contest away.
Debutant Aaron Grandidier-Nkanang, an Olympic sevens gold medallist, marked his first cap with two tries, while Romain Ntamack (53') and the dangerous Theo Attissogbe (73') also crossed as the French bench and back three ran riot. Lock Emmanuel Meafou had opened the scoring inside three minutes.
Schmidt made no attempt to mask his pain. "We're so desperate to win," he said. "When you stack enough moments... to lead at half-time, it's soul destroying." He identified the turning point without ducking his side's own shortcomings: "There were a couple of really big turning points... that got them back into the game. And our kicking game wasn't as accurate."
The defeat leaves Australia needing to beat Italy next week to spare Schmidt the worst win-loss record of any Wallabies coach — a 36.6 per cent return of 11 wins from 30 Tests. "We just know we need to get a win next week," he said. "It's as simple as that."
Captain Harry Wilson was still processing the manner of the collapse. "Once we got the yellow [card], they made us pay," he said. "I'm still trying to put it together in my head." He refused to hide behind the quality of the opposition. "France won the Six Nations... they're a bloody good team," Wilson said, "but we need to win Test matches."
For an injury-hit Wallabies side that had thrown rookie fly-half Declan Meredith into the fire, the first 40 minutes offered genuine hope. The second was a reminder of how ruthlessly the world's best sides punish a lapse — and of how much rests on next week's meeting with Italy.
