Next stop Paris for triumphant Wallabies - Sports News - Fanatics - the world's biggest events

Next stop Paris for triumphant Wallabies

By Darren Walton 17/11/2008 07:08:14 AM Comments (0)

Venice one day, London the next. Now it's next stop Paris for the Wallabies on their season-ending tour of Europe.

The Australians left London on a high on Sunday after notching their biggest win at Twickenham in a quarter of a century, a 28-14 triumph that served as a payback of sorts for last year's demoralising quarter-final loss to England at the Rugby World Cup in France.

Five-eighth Matt Giteau, who contributed 20 points from a record six penalties and a conversion, said the most pleasing aspect of the Wallabies' win was the composure they displayed in recovering from 14-12 down midway through the second half.

"In previous games against New Zealand, we'd probably fallen away," Giteau said.

"But there was a big talk where we actually said this is where we have to stand up. This is where we need to make the mark where we're actually going to dig deep and get ourselves out of trouble.

"Individually, everyone stood up when things started getting a bit tough."

Giteau said it was vital the Wallabies maintained their focus after such an emotional win, and didn't drop their guard against the unpredictable French.

"There's still a lot of things we can work on. The fact that we beat England by 14 points at Twickenham and we've still got improvements to make is a real positive for the boys," he said.

"France now. Obviously England was a big win for us as far as the tour is concerned, but it means nothing if we go out and put in a bad performance against France."

Coach Robbie Deans's biggest selection quandary is whether to recall Wycliff Palu to his starting side after the powerhouse No.8 had a major impact off the bench at Twickenham.

Palu replaced Richard Brown, who dislocated a finger and also hurt his knee, early in the second half and pulled off some signature big hits, as well as adding heave to the Wallabies' scrum.

Deans said, despite his injuries, Brown was likely to be available for selection for the French Test.

He said winger Lote Tuqiri may also come into the mix, although it was unlikely he would return to the starting lineup having been sidelined with a knee injury since the Tri-Nations tournament ended in September.

The Wallabies scored a 2-0 Test series win over a depleted French outfit earlier this year in Australia.

"The French will be stinging having lost those two games," Wallabies assistant coach Michael Foley said.

"And playing them in Paris, it will be a packed stadium I guess, and plenty of screaming Frenchman. For us, being able to perform two weeks in a row is very important."

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