Australia v France: Nations Championship rugby union international – live

Key events1m agoFrance XV6m agoAustralia XV31m agoPreambleThis is round two of whatever the Nations Championship is. If there was a notable result from the opening six fixtures it was South Africa’s hammering of England, putting the world on notice they are on course for a Webb Ellis Cup three-peat. double quotation markTo be inside a fervid Ellis Park, their traditional citadel, last Saturday and witness their 45-21 win over England was instructive on several fronts, but there was one entirely unavoidable takeaway.

Is there anyone out there with the physical firepower to stop the Springboks when the world’s leading sides converge on Australia next year? The Breakdown | Will anyone stop the Springboks completing a Rugby World Cup three-peat?Read moreThere’s a new No 10 for France tonight as well as Romain Ntamack comes into playmaker as Fabien Galthié rings the changes after last weekend’s near miss in New Zealand.

1. Moses Alo-Emile, 2. Peato Mauvaka, 3.

Demba Bamba, 4. Florian Verhaeghe, 5. Emmanuel Meafou, 6.

Lenni Nouchi, 7. Oscar Jégou, 8. Marko Gazzotti, 9.

Maxime Lucu (c), 10. Romain Ntamack, 11. Aaron Grandidier-Nkanang, 12.

Yoram Moefana, 13. Fabien Brau-Boirie, 14. Théo Attissogbe, 15.

Matthieu Jalibert.Finishers: 16. Maxime Lamothe, 17.

Jefferson Poirot, 18. Tevita Tatafu, 19. Hugo Auradou, 20.

Tom Staniforth, 21. Killian Tixeront, 22. Nolann Le Garrec, 23.

Kalvin Gourgues.Declan Meredith becomes Wallaby 997 and the latest candidate to solve Australia’s longstanding issues at five-eighth. The 27-year-old has come from such a long way out to make his debut he doesn’t even have a picture against his name or a biography on the Wallabies website.

His partnership with Brumbies teammate Ryan Lonergan will be critical.1. Angus Bell, 2.

Josh Nasser, 3. Allan Alaalatoa, 4. Josh Canham, 5.

Jeremy Williams, 6. Rob Valetini, 7. Fraser McReight, 8.

Harry Wilson (c), 9. Ryan Lonergan, 10. Declan Meredith, 11.

Dylan Pietsch, 12. Len Ikitau, 13. Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii, 14.

Max Jorgensen, 15. Tom Wright.Replacements: 16.

Brandon Paenga-Amosa, 17. James Slipper, 18. Taniela Tupou, 19.

Lachlan Shaw, 20. Nick Champion de Crespigny, 21. Tate McDermott, 22.

Jock Campbell, 23. Filipo Daugunu.Angus Fontaine sets the scene ahead of yet another examination of Australia’s standing among the leading nations in International rugby.

double quotation markHard luck. Hard lessons. Call it what you want, but Australia’s 31-33 loss to Ireland last weekend has to harden the Wallabies’ resolve to stop losing gallantly and find a ruthless edge.

With one win from their past nine Tests and the threat of home World Cup humiliation looming in 14 months, honourable defeat and positive intent no longer cut it. They must beat France this Saturday in Brisbane or they risk losing everything. Wallabies need cool heads and a hard edge against France to stop the gallant losses | Angus FontaineRead moreDaniel Gallen was impressed with the Wallabies against Ireland, but laments the longstanding absence of match-winners in gold.

double quotation markTest rugby is often dressed up as a complex sport, and much of the time it is. This match had intricate handling patterns, breakdown contests, lineout disruption and tactical momentum swings. But some truths remain blunt.

If Australia can keep playing with this much ambition, skill and speed, they will trouble anyone. To beat the very best, though, they still need two old things. A big man who can batter people when beauty is not enough.

And a clutch goal-kicker who makes everyone in the stadium believe, before he has even taken his first step, that the ball is going over. Without them, the Wallabies will thrill, but the biggest games may keep slipping away. Wallabies were brave and brilliant against Ireland but still miss some key ingredients | Daniel GallanRead moreHello everybody and welcome to live coverage of Australia v France in round two of the Southern Hemisphere series of the 2026 Nations Championship.

Kick-off at Brisbane’s Suncorp Stadium is scheduled for 5.40pm AEST.So here we are again.

Another winter, another week of what-ifs, another referendum on the state of Australian rugby.Since the nadir of the 2023 World Cup the script has hardly changed. Seasons come and go, personnel fluctuates, results steadfastly refuse to budge.

The dispassionate World Rugby standings have Australia ranked eighth, with a points tally as close to outsiders Uruguay as the benchmark Springboks.But the partisan former players that dominate the discourse will tell us on a weekly basis the valiant Wallabies give their all and deserve nothing but credit for falling just short of the breakthrough triumph that would begin their noble march back to the top of the sport. More often than not they tell us the match officials are the principal obstacle denying them.

Last weekend’s defeat to Ireland was textbook. In isolation, defeat snatched from the jaws of victory (assisted by a refereeing “howler” according to the boosters i