By John Davidson, Date: 1/11/17 (Photo Credit NRLPhotos)
Venue: Canberra Stadium, ACT, Australia
TV Kick-off time: Friday 3rd November 2017, 8pm AEDT
France will be looking to keep their 2017 World Cup dream alive when they meet hosts Australia on Friday.
The French suffered a stunning 29-18 defeat to Lebanon in their first match, meaning they now have to topple either the Kangaroos or England in their next two games to stay alive in the tournament. Lebanon are through to the quarter-finals unless the European nation can spring a massive upset.
Beating Australia may be mission impossible considering France haven’t done so in decades. The two countries will clash in Canberra’s GIO Stadium on Friday night.
Les Chanticleers were solid against the Cedars in Canberra, but were undone by an outstanding Mitchell Moses chip and chase try in the final stages, which sealed Lebanon’s win.
Coach Aurelien Cologni has made three changes in their starting 13 with centre Olivier Arnaud coming in for Damian Cardace, Remy Marginet replacing William Barthau and Maxime Herold stepping in for Antonio Maria.
On the bench John Boudebza, Romain Navarrete and Mickael Rouch take the places of Clement Boyer, Nabil Djalout and Lucas Albert.
Australia will be looking to build on combinations and eliminate rust after a hard-fought 18-4 victory over England in Melbourne.
Despite the scoreline, England held the Kangaroos out for long periods and were only six points behind the defending champions for most of the game.
Mal Meninga will want improvement from his team and demand that they put France to the sword emphatically. At the same time a number of veteran players will be rested for Friday.
He has named four debutants in Tom Trbojevic, Reagan Campbell-Gillard, Cameron Munster and Felise Kaufusi to tackle the French.
Captain Cameron Smith has also been named in what will be his 36th consecutive Test match, while Josh McGuire will start at lock and Josh Mansour on the wing.
Cooper Cronk, Dane Gagai, Valentine Holmes, Boyd Cordner, Matt Gillett have all been rested.
Meninga said Cronk copped a hit to the nose against England and his position has been taken by James Maloney.
“His nose is a bit sore at the moment so it looked severely broken in the opening game against the English,” he said.
“Predominantly we’ve just given him time to freshen up, get that nose right and he’ll be ready for Lebanon.
“I’ve given everyone an opportunity to play well, participate in the team and play some games. That’s important for the whole squad.
“You never know what might happen at the back end of the tournament if we keep on being successful. You never know with injuries or illness. It’s important everyone gets some time.”
Australia RLWC2017 Team
1 Billy SLATER
2 Tom TRBOJEVIC
3 William CHAMBERS
4 Joshua DUGAN
5 Josh MANSOUR
6 Michael MORGAN
7 James MALONEY
8 Jordan MCLEAN
9 Cameron SMITH (c)
10 Reagan CAMPBELL-GILLARD
11 Wade GRAHAM
12 Tyson FRIZELL
13 Joshua MCGUIRE
14 Cameron MUNSTER
15 Felise KAUFUSI
16 Aaron WOODS
17 David KLEMMER
18 Valentine HOLMES
19 Matthew GILLETT
20 Boyd CORDNER
21 Dane GAGAI
France RLWC2017 Team
1 Mark KHEIRALLAH
2 Fouad YAHA
3 Bastien ADER
4 Olivier ARNAUD
5 Ilias BERGAL
6 Remy MARGINET
7 Theo FAGES (c)
8 Maxime HEROLD
9 Eloi PELISSIER
10 Julian BOUSQUET
11 Benjamin GARCIA
12 Benjamin JULLIEN
13 Jason BAITIERI
14 Thibault MARGALET
15 Mickael ROUCH
16 Romain NAVARRETE
17 John BOUDEBZA
18 Lucas ALBERT
19 Antonio MARIA
20 Nabil DJALOUT
21 Lambert BELMAS
