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The Wallabies have beaten France in France for the first time since 2000 with a hard fought 18-13 win over Les Bleus in Paris this morning
In doing so the Wallabies have won three games in a row on their end of season tour for the first time in the professional era.
And the Wallabies had to overcome a considerable setback to come out on top of the desperate French XV.
The Australian team were disrupted just before kick off with outside centre Ryan Cross ruled out which saw fulback Adam Ashley-Cooper move to outside centre, Drew Mitchell drop to fullback, Digby Ioane come off the bench on to the left wing and Lote Tuqiri in to the reserves for the first time on tour.
As it happend (courtesy of our man in France, OxleyMoron):
4:55AM Morning from Stade de France
4:57AM Last minute change - Cross out, AAC to 13, Ioane onto the Wing, Drew to fullback and Lote onto the bench
5:01AM Australia to kick off
5:01AM Penalty conceded by AAC, offside at the ruck
5:04AM Penalty to France - Burgess not releasing,france to kick at goal, kick misses by a whisker
5:05AM Wallabies in attack, into 22
5:06AM Handling error from Burgess, ball turned over and cleared from Chabal
5:08AM Aus lost lineout on 22, france move the ball onto the aus 22
5:09AM France 10m out, tried a drop goal but missed it.
5:11AM Great scrambling work by George smith, a soccer clearing kick advances the ball onto the french 22
5:12AM Knock on by Aus, first scrum after 11minutes. 0-0
5:14AM France lineout 35m out, stolen by Sharpe
5:17AM McMenimen concedes penalty inside attacking 22, ball has been travelling between both 22 lines for the past two minutes
5:19AM The game is very different to last week - plenty of running the ball by both sides
5:20AM Lost forward by palu after a good scrum
5:22AM Penalty to Aus, lineout on 22, poor handling forced the ball to halfway before penalty conceded by France - not staying on feet.
5:22AM Mortlock to have a shot, close to halfway. Missed it to the right. 21 minutes gone
5:23AM Sharpe knock on from the 22 restart
5:25AM Hands in the ruck from Ouedraogo
5:26AM Good linebreak by Ioane, turned over 10m out by Burgess
5:27AM Good tackle by Palu, forcing the french out just outside the 22
5:29AM Penalty to Aus, France not rolling away on their 22. Giteau to have a shot
5:29AM Gits converts the penalty, 3-0
5:30AM 28 minutes gone
5:31AM Craig Joubert swallowed the whistle for about 10 seconds as play continued after he had blown for offside
5:32AM Aus attacking lineout inside french 22, Mumm secured lineout
5:32AM Try to Moore.
5:33AM AAC made the break through the french defence from the lineout, ruck 1m out for Moore to put in down for the try.
5:34AM Giteau converts 10-0 after 32 minutes
5:35AM Drew's clearing kick charged down, Aus concede penalty on own 22. Skrela to have a kick from out wide
5:36AM Skrela has missed the penalty.
5:37AM Penalty to France, taking out the kick chaser. Burgess was too keen.
5:38AM Skrela has another kick 40m out directly in front and missed again. A chorous of boos ring out from the french fans
5:40AM france on attack, inside 22. Aus feed at scrum
5:41AM Burgess has thrown the ball over Giteaus head, over deadball line to give a french scrum 5m out.
5:43AM Penalty try to France. The Aus scrum started to buckle, the french kept driving forward and Harinordoquay would have scored. Skrela converts. 10-7
5:43AM Halftime 10-7
5:47AM France have been running the ball at all cost, there haven't been too many lineouts in the first half
5:54AM Very scrappy start by Aus at the start of the 2nd half, Giteau kick charged down, Drew cleans up. Aus lineout on own 5m
5:55AM French on attack, mortlock intercepts, Giteau kicks the ball downfield, trickles out at 22
5:56AM Nallet is forced off with injury
5:57AM Penalty to france, Mumm sealing the ball.
5:59AM France offside, in front of the kicker. Chance to clear
6:00AM France on attack, on 22
6:01AM Penalty against Sharpe, coming in from the side.
6:02AM Skrela has kicked the penalty. 10 all, 48 minutes
6:04AM Ioane is penalised 10m fro not retreating. French move the ball forward, Aus lineout 10m from own line
6:06AM Drop goal by the french, kicked by Medard
6:06AM It had to go to the TMO
6:06AM Hands in the ruck against Aus
6:08AM Lineout stolen by Sharpe. French lineout on halfway. Wally is positioned right on halfway
6:09AM Knocked on by Ioane, French on attack.
6:09AM Penalty to Aus
6:11AM Aus lineout on 22, inside 22. Try to Hynes. Quick hands along the line left Hynes open to score
6:12AM Gits misses the conversion
6:13AM 58 minutes gone
6:15AM Another steal from the french lineout. French scrum 30m from own line
6:16AM A couple of scrum resets
6:17AM Penalty against Moore - not rolling away
6:19AM Lots of chip kicking from both sides. Cordingley and Kepu on for Burgess and Alexander
6:20AM Good mark from Hynes. The french lose another lineout
6:21AM Forward pass from George smith
6:23AM Penalty against Kepu - collapsing scrum.
6:24AM Skrela misses the penalty. 69 minutes gone
6:27AM Penalty against Chisholm - unsure what for. Skrela to have another kick. He has missed again. He is 2/7 tonight
6:28AM Poor kick chase by the wallabies, a lucky bounce has them on attack inside the 22.
6:29AM Penalty to Aus - not rolling away. Gits to kick from directly in front
6:30AM Penalty converted. 18-13, 5 minutes left
6:31AM High tackle on Ioane. Skrela has been binned.
6:32AM Gits has hit the upright, bounces back into play
6:34AM French scrum just short of halfway, 77 minutes gone
6:35AM Penalty against Aus
6:35AM French on attack
6:36AM Penalty to Aus, hooter has gone.
6:37AM Gits kicks the ball out. Wallabies win 18-13 - have won in France for the first time since 2000.
6:39AM Not a pretty game, however the wallabies have done enough to win.
6:40AM The french flyhalf Skrela was the difference, only kicking 2 from 7. Some of the kicks were not particularly difficult.
6:41AM The lineout was quite good tonight, stealing at least three throws from the french.
6:45AM The wallabies have now won three in a row on the spring tour, the first time they have achieved this feat in the professional era. It's off to Cardiff to take on the Welsh canaries next week.
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