France turn fear into power to thrash Australia

11 Nov 2012, 11:10 am   -   Source: Reuters
France's Vincent Debaty (L) and Pascal Pape celebrate after beating Australia during their team's rugby test match at the Stade de France stadium in Saint-Denis, near Paris, November 10, 2012. REUTERS/Gonzalo Fuentes

France's Vincent Debaty (L) and Pascal Pape celebrate after beating Australia during their team's rugby test match at the Stade de France stadium in Saint-Denis, near Paris, November 10, 2012. REUTERS/Gonzalo Fuentes

PARIS (Reuters) - France upset Australia on Saturday because they were scared of yet another thrashing by a southern hemisphere nation and they had better be afraid of Argentina next weekend, according to coach Philippe Saint Andre.

PARIS (Reuters) - France upset Australia on Saturday because they were scared of yet another thrashing by a southern hemisphere nation and they had better be afraid of Argentina next weekend, according to coach Philippe Saint Andre.

Les Bleus, who were demolished 59-16 by the Wallabies in their last encounter two years ago, turned fear into power at Stade de France to win 33-6 and claim their first victory in seven years against Australia.

"French rugby is a bit like that. When we're scared we do great things," Saint Andre told reporters.

"It's a true achievement, especially when you look at the southern nations' performances tonight," he added, referring to Argentina and South Africa's victories against Wales and Ireland respectively.

France's win was their biggest over Australia since their 34-6 win at the Parc des Princes in 1976.

"It's not every day that you score 30 points against Australia," said Saint Andre. "Let's savour this."

France face Argentina next Saturday, who they beat 49-10 in June on the back of a 23-20 defeat.

Argentina, match-hardened after their debut in the southern hemisphere Rugby Championship, stunned Six Nations champions Wales 26-12 on Saturday.

"We need to be humble if we want to win our three (November) matches," said Saint Andre. "We need to be as scared next Saturday as we were today."

France will also need to produce the same kind of performance, a mix of raw power and flair that unsettled Australia.

"It was a very complete performance from the French, they were too good for us tonight," Australia coach Robbie Deans told reporters.

"We opened the door in some way with our inaccuracies and they grew some confidence on the back of it. They created a lot of momentum."

(Reporting by Julien Pretot; Editing by Ian Ransom)

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