Wallabies facing French resistance

AAP - The fear of the unknown - more so than the spectre of mass sackings if they don't perform - has the Wallabies primed to silence their critics in Saturday night's Test showdown with France at ANZ Stadium.

New coach Robbie Deans has demanded the Wallabies lift their game or face the
consequences after an unconvincing 18-12 escape against Ireland in the first winter
Test two weeks ago in Melbourne.

But it is the ever-unpredictable French, not Deans, who have the Wallabies on guard.
The visitors will field an unheralded line-up featuring just one player from last
year's Rugby World Cup semi-final loss to England - plus monster lock Sebastien
Chabal - and Wallabies captain Stirling Mortlock admitted such uncertainty made the
French awkward opponents.

"It's been quite difficult to prepare for this match - a number of these players
playing tomorrow night haven't performed in the Six Nations, so there's a bit of an
unknown quantity to them," Mortlock said.

"That suits their mentality. They're coming down here over the next two weeks to
really play some positive football and take us out of our comfort zone and stick it
to us.

"So by no means are we underestimating them at all.
"The French are always a side that, if you underestimate them at all, they'll make
you pay.

"They're extremely gifted at counter-attack so we've got to be on our game
defensively. That's a real key for us.

"But, first and foremost, we've got to match them physically and go at them."
After naming an unchanged 22-man squad for his second Test in charge, Deans said
Australia's rusty performance against Ireland was an unsatisfactory "start point"
for his new-era Wallabies and placed the entire team on notice to shape up or ship
out.

Mortlock said Deans's message had been received loud and clear.
"The whole crew is under no illusions," Mortlock said after Friday's Captain's Run.

"There's a lot of guys playing very well for Australia A and, likewise, there were
some underlying positives in the match against Ireland.
"But we know we've got a lot to improve on and it's all in front of us.

"Robbie as a coach and as a person, he's struck me as a guy who doesn't pull any
punches. He says it as it is, how he feels, and that's really refreshing.

"His comments, both to the team and publicly, pretty much echoed the sentiment of
the whole group.

"I don't think anyone's heads were in the clouds because we were pretty happy with a
win (against Ireland), but it was more of a rusty, gritty win ... there were a
number of areas where we weren't happy with.
"But over the last two weeks we've grown, become more accustomed to what we're
about, what we're about to achieve.

"Obviously your expectations rise as well, so we feel as though we have progressed.
"Hopefully we're looking for a more polished and improved performance for the whole
match. That would be nice."

The Wallabies have been forced to make one late change, with Al Baxter promoted to
start as tighthead prop following Matt Dunning's scratching with a corked calf.
Rookie prop Ben Alexander is in line to make his Test debut after being elevated
from the Australia A side to the Wallabies bench.
AUSTRALIA: Cameron Shepherd, Peter Hynes, Stirling Mortlock (capt), Berrick Barnes,
Lote Tuqiri, Matt Giteau, Luke Burgess, Wycliff Palu, George Smith, Rocky Elsom,
Nathan Sharpe, James Horwill, Al Baxter, Stephen Moore, Benn Robinson. Reserves:
Adam Freier, Ben Alexander, Dean Mumm, Phil Waugh, Sam Cordingley, Ryan Cross, Adam
Ashley-Cooper.

FRANCE: Pepito Elhorga, Alexis Palisson, Francois Trinh-Duc, Damien Traille,
Benjamin Thiery, Benjamin Boyet, Dimitri Yachvili, Louis Picamoles, Fulgence
Ouedraogo, Imanol Harinordoquy, Lionel Nallet, Sebastien Chabal, Benoit Lecouls,
Sebastien Bruno, Lionel Faure. Reserves: Benjamin Kayser, Renaud Boyoud, David
Couzinet, Matthieu Lievremont, Sebastien Tillous-Bordes, Thubault Lacroix, David Janin.