Unerring Burke makes France pay for mistakes
Australia 29 France 17
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Your support makes all the difference.As Australia did not qualify for football's World Cup finals, the chances are when one talks about Golden Balls in these parts most locals think you're referring to Matt Burke. The Australian kicking machine was again spot on with the boot here yesterday as he helped the world champions to victory over the best the Six Nations have to offer.
As France fell to their second successive defeat to southern-hemisphere opposition inside seven days, Burke's 19 points helped the Wallabies gain revenge for their autumn loss in Marseille.
Burke kept his head to claim a perfect return from seven kicks at goal. Stephen Larkham, the fly-half, was another star for the hosts, turning the visitors round with his fine prodding kicks and grabbing a vital second try just before the interval.
As for league recruit Wendell Sailor, he had few chances to shine. He was joined by former Kangaroo team-mate Mat Rogers for the final 10 minutes and Rogers came closer to scoring, dancing to within a metre as Australia pressed in the final stages.
In fact, Sailor's first major contribution didn't actually involve him touching the ball. He linked into the Wallaby line as George Gregan moved the ball left at a scrum, but was only used as a dummy runner as Chris Latham exchanged passes with Stirling Mortlock to squeeze in at the corner. It was tough luck on the French.
Australia were not convincing against the New Zealand Maori eight days ago and again relied on Burke.
"It was a good win for the first Test of the year but there were some scrappy elements from both sides," Gregan said. "We faded badly and really let ourselves down in the last 30 minutes."
Having exchanged early penalties with Damien Traille, Burke converted Latham's try, then added a 17th-minute penalty to give the home side a 10-point advantage which France needed to close quickly. They did just that, young fly-half François Gelez landing his first two penalty chances, only to fall further behind when they stood off Larkham waiting for an offload but the fly-half instead shrugged off Nicolas Jeanjean's poor tackle to score under the posts.
France were struggling to maintain their discipline, such a feature of their triumphant Six Nations title campaign, and when Fabien Pelous dragged down Australia's other debutant Nathan Sharpe at an injury-time line-out, Burke stepped up to give his team a 14-point lead at the interval.
The visitors' imposing back-row rallied at the restart, with Olivier Magne leading the charge. But without injured captain Fabien Galthié they lacked direction, Gelez exchanging penalties with Burke as Australia stood firm.
The Wallabies increased the tempo around the hour mark, No 8 Toutai Kefu leading the charge, although Serge Betsen brought George Smith down with a brutal tackle.
Burke banged over his fifth penalty with nine minutes remaining, although France immediately replied when Jean-Baptiste Poux burrowed his way over from close range.
Australia 29 France 17
Tries: Latham, Larkham Try: Poux
Cons: Burke (2) Pens: Gelez (3), Traille
Pens: Burke (5)
Half-time: 23-9
Australia: C Latham (Queensland); W Sailor (Queensland), M Burke (NSW), D Herbert (Queensland), S Mortlock (ACT Brumbies); S Larkham (ACT Brumbies), G Gregan (ACT Brumbies, capt); B Young (ACT Brumbies), J Paul, (ACT Brumbies) P Noriega (NSW), N Sharpe (Queensland), J Harrison (ACT Brumbies), O Finegan (ACT Brumbies), T Kefu (Queensland), G Smith (ACT Brumbies). Replacements: B Cannon (NSW) for Paul, 34; R Moore (NSW) for Noriega, 64; M Cockbain for Finegan, 60; D Lyons (NSW) for Smith, 64; M Rogers (NSW) for Herbert, 72; E Flatley (Queensland) for Larkham, 72.
France: P Elhorga (Agen); A Rougerie (Montferrand), T Marsh (Montferrand), D Traille (Pau), N Jeanjean (Toulouse); F Gelez (Agen), F Michalak (Toulouse); A Martinez (Narbonne), O Azam (Gloucester), S Marconnet (Stade Français), F Pelous (Toulouse, capt), C Porcu (Agen), S Betsen, (Biarritz), I Harinordoquy (Pau), O Magne (Montferrand). Replacements: R Ibanez (Castres) for Martinez, 75; J-B Poux (Narbonne) for Marconnet, 58; O Brouzet (Northampton) for Purcu, 58; C Labit (Toulouse) for Harinordoquy, 72; P Mignoni (Beziers), Y Jauzion (Colomiers) for Jeanjean, 52.
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