Wallabies out to end tour on a high
Okay, so kick-off is at 7.10am (AEDT), which is quite remarkably 9.10pm Paris time. They don’t mind finishing late.
It’s been freezing all week in Paris, and the weather app tells me the temperature is now only 1 degree Celsius. Mr. Drennan says it’s minus 3 in the stands! But the prediction is clear.
Team-wise, the Wallabies were forced to make a few changes on Friday; Carter Gordon and Billy Pollard were both eliminated with minor absences. Tane Edmed and Matt Faessler came off the bench, while Josh Nasser and Hamish Stewart were also added to the bench.
Where is James O’Connor, you ask? Good question. For reasons still not fully explained, JOC was left out of the squad after starting 10th against Ireland last weekend despite Gordon’s quad injury.
This year’s handling of O’Connor by Joe Schmidt has been one of the strangest events of the season.
In any case, here are the teams:
Australia (15-1): Max Jorgensen; Harry Potter, Joseph-Aukuso Sua’ali’i, Len Ikitau, Dylan Pietsch; Tane Edmed, Jake Gordon; Harry Wilson (captain), Fraser McReight, Tom Hooper; Nick Frost, Jeremy Williams; Taniela Tupou, Matt Faessler, Angus Bell
Replacements: Josh Nasser, Aidan Ross, Allan Alaalatoa, Rob Valetini, Carlo Tizzano, Kalani Thomas, Hamish Stewart, Filipo Daugunu
France (15-1): Thomas Ramos; Damian Penaud, Nicolas Depoortere, Gael Fickou, Louis Bielle-Biarrey; Romain Ntamack, Maxime Lucu; Gregory Alldritt (captain), Charles Ollivon, Anthony Jelonch; Emmanuel Meafou, Thibaud Flament; Regis Montagne, Julien Marchand, Jean-Baptiste Gros
Replacements: Maxime Lamothe, Rodrigue Neti, Thomas Laclayat, Romain Taofifenua, Hugo Auradou, Oscar Jegou, Baptiste Jauneau, Kalvin Gourgues
Judge: Luke Pearce (RFU)
Assistant Referees: Andrew Brace (IRFU) and Craig Evans (WRU)
TMO: Marius van der Westhuizen (SARU)
FPRO: Mike Adamson (SRU)
