Six-try France fight back to beat Wallabies

Nations Championship round two

Australia (21) 26

Tries: Paenga-Amosa, McReight 2, Williams Cons: Lonergan 3

France (12) 42

Tries: Meafou, Grandidier Nkanang 2, Ntamack, Verhaeghe, Attisogbe Cons: Lucu 3 Pens: Lucu 2

Aaron Grandidier Nkanang scored two tries on his debut as France fought back to beat Australia in the Nations Championship and condemn Joe Schmidt's side to a sixth successive defeat.

Having fallen to a dramatic late loss to Ireland in Sydney, the Wallabies led 21-12 at the break thanks to the outstanding Fraser McReight, who touched down twice after France's opening try scorer Emmanuel Meafou was yellow carded.

But London-born Grandidier Nkanang, Romain Ntamack, Florian Verhaeghe and Theo Attissogbe all scored in the second half as France hit 30 points without reply to secure a fourth consecutive win over Australia.

Jeremy Williams' late score clinched a try bonus point for Australia, who face Italy next week in Schmidt's final game in charge before Les Kiss takes over.

France, who bounced back from last week's loss to the All Blacks with a first win in Brisbane since 1972, take on Japan in Tokyo in the final game of their Nations Championship campaign's southern hemisphere leg.

"It's awesome, we studied them all week and I think it was a challenge for us to come and play," said Meafou.

"Credit to the Wallabies. That was a tough first half. We knew they weren't going to go away, but we got some good tries in the second half."

After falling short in their bid for a first win over Ireland in eight years, Australia were stunned early at Lang Park when Meafou crashed over in the third minute.

But the response from the Wallabies - who handed a Test debut to fly-half Declan Meredith following injuries to Carter Gordon and Ben Donaldson - was admirable, with replacement hooker Brandon Paenga-Amosa crossing.

And while former Olympic sevens gold medal winner Grandidier Nkanang responded with a superb finish in the corner, France's momentum was halted when Meafou was yellow carded for a high tackle on Rob Valetini.

It remained yellow following an off-field bunker review, but France felt Meafou's absence as the indefatigable McReight struck twice in the space of eight minutes to put Australia in a strong position at the break.

Rapid Wallabies wing Max Jorgensen was also denied a try when Oscar Jegou pushed him into touch before he dotted down in the corner, while McReight's last-ditch intervention denied Matthieu Jalibert in a frenetic end to the half.

Jalibert, starting his first game for France at full-back, displayed his playmaking prowess when he kicked into the corner for Grandidier Nkanang to score his second.

With the game opening up, France moved through the gears, and after Ntamack put them 27-21 ahead following Australia full-back Tom Wright's yellow card, Verhaeghe crashed over to crush Australia's comeback hopes.

With the Wallabies faltering, Attissogbe was denied a try after Jalibert's forward pass, but the 21-year-old wing got the score he deserved seven minutes from time.

"We were very happy going in at half-time. 21-12 up, we put ourselves in a great position there," said Australia captain Harry Wilson.

"Then the big second half and we're learning that you need to play a good 80 minutes.

"We keep losing moments and (allowing) a team like France to put on 30 unanswered points, it's not good enough."

Australia: Tom Wright; Max Jorgensen; Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii, Len Ikitau; Dylan Pietsch; Declan Meredith, Ryan Lonergan; Angus Bell, Josh Nasser, Allan Alaalatoa, Josh Canham, Jeremy Williams; Rob Valetini, Fraser McReight, Harry Wilson (capt).

Replacements: Brandon Paenga-Amosa, James Slipper, Taniela Tupou, Lachlan Shaw, Nick Champion de Despigny, Tate McDermott, Jock Campbell, Filipo Daugunu.

France: Matthieu Jalibert; Theo Attissogbe; Fabien Brau-Boirie, Yoram Moefana; Aaron Grandidier Nkanang; Romain Ntamak, Maxime Lucu (capt); Moses Alo-Emile, Peato Mauvaka, Demba Bamba, Florian Veraeghe, Emmanuel Meafou, Lenni Nouchi, Oscar Jegou, Marko Gazzotti.

Replacements: Maxime Lamothe, Jefferson Poirot, Tevita Tatafu, Hugo Auradou, Tom Staniforth, Killian Tixeront, Nolann le Garrec, Kalvin Gourgues.

Referee: Karl Dickson (RFU)