Giteau puts boot into French
Matt Giteau scored all of Australia's points in a 22-6 victory over France at the Olympic Stadium in Sydney.
Last Updated: 27/06/09 2:46pm
A fine individual performance from Matt Giteau helped Australia record an impressive 22-6 victory over France in Sydney.
The fly-half scored all of the Wallabies' points, including their only try, to make sure the visitors' miserable record Down Under continued.
Having drawn their two-Test series with New Zealand, Les Bleus were confident of being able to end a 19-year wait for a Test win on Australian soil.
However, the combination of Giteau's boot and some strong home defence never gave Marc Lievremont's side a sniff at the Olympic Stadium.
Their inability to manage a try was not for a lack of effort - Damien Traille coming the closest when he was hauled down just short of the line by the superb George Smith.
In the end all the French had to show from their efforts were two penalties - Lionel Beauxis slotting over the first before Dimitri Yachvili took over the kicking duties, landing three points shortly after the hour mark.
Giteau try
Australia had opened up a 10-3 lead by half time thanks mainly to an 18th minute try from a move that was started and finished by Giteau.
The 26-year-old landed the conversion attempt and was also on target with a penalty to put the home team in full control.
The second half saw him kick a further 12 points, all of them coming in the space of 12 minutes shortly after the interval. Giteau's final haul was just three short of Australia's record against France, held by Matthew Burke.
Having conceded just two tries in four matches this season, the Wallabies have enjoyed a perfect build-up ahead of the Tri-Nations Series.
They kick-off the new campaign with a Bledisloe Cup clash away to trans-Tasman rivals New Zealand on July 18, live on Sky Sports.
