Arabic version: فرنسا تُجري سبع تغييرات؛ والولابي يضم لاعباً في ظهوره الاختباري الأول
The Wallabies and France met at a sold-out Lang Park in Brisbane for a Nations Championship Test, with both teams coming off defeats in the competition.
According to ABC News, France coach Fabien Galthié made seven changes to his starting XV after a 34-32 loss to the All Blacks, while Wallabies coach Joe Schmidt reshaped his matchday squad following a 33-31 defeat to Ireland.
France’s changes included the Test debut of front-rower Moses Alo-Emile and the inclusion of lock Emmanuel Meafou, with Tom Staniforth named among the reserves. Les Bleus were listed as: 15 Matthieu Jalibert, 14 Théo Attissogbe, 13 Fabien Brau-Boirie, 12 Yoram Moefana, 11 Aaron Grandidier-Nkanang, 10 Romain Ntamack, 9 Maxime Lucu (C), 8 Marko Gazzotti, 7 Oscar Jégou, 6 Lenni Nouchi, 5 Emmanuel Meafou, 4 Florian Verhaeghe, 3 Demba Bamba, 2 Peato Mauvaka, 1 Moses Alo-Emile. Reserves named included Maxime Lamothe, Jefferson Poirot, Tevita Tatafu, Hugo Auradou, Tom Staniforth, Killian Tixeront, Nolann Le Garrec and Kalvin Gourgues.
The Wallabies made several changes driven largely by injury and named fly-half Declan Meredith to make his Test debut. Australia’s starting XV was listed as: 15 Tom Wright, 14 Max Jorgensen, 13 Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii, 12 Len Ikitau, 11 Dylan Pietsch, 10 Declan Meredith, 9 Ryan Lonergan, 8 Harry Wilson (C), 7 Fraser McReight, 6 Rob Valetini, 5 Jeremy Williams, 4 Josh Canham, 3 Allan Alaalatoa, 2 Josh Nasser, 1 Angus Bell. Reserves included Brandon Paenga-Amosa, James Slipper, Taniela Tupou, Lachlan Shaw, Nick Champion de Crespigny, Tate McDermott, Jock Campbell and Filipo Daugunu.
Both sides were seeking to recover from narrow losses in the opening round of the Nations Championship. Recent meetings have favoured France — including a 48-33 win in Paris last November — while the Wallabies’ last victory over France in that run occurred in Brisbane in 2021. The match was also noted as taking place at a sold-out Lang Park.
What happens next: the Wallabies and France will contest the Nations Championship Test in Brisbane, with live updates provided by ABC News.
Related sections: Australia/استراليا | Queensland | New South Wales | General | World/العالم
