Nations Championship · Round 2
Australia
France
Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane
Championship Standings
Round 1 of the inaugural World Rugby Nations Championship is in the books, and the Rest of World group holds the early edge — South Africa (45–21 v England), New Zealand (34–32 v France) and Japan (27–10 v Italy) all won their openers, leaving Australia, Argentina and Fiji chasing. In Europe, Wales, Scotland and Ireland all won, France banked two bonus points in a two-point loss to the All Blacks, and England and Italy sit pointless. The competition is two groups of six playing a full cross-group round-robin — four points for a win, two for a draw, plus bonus points for scoring four tries and for losing by seven or fewer — with the group standings seeding a Finals Weekend at Allianz Stadium, Twickenham. The tables below are seeded on points then points difference after Round 1.
| Pos | Team | P | W | L | PD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rest of World | ||||||
| 1 |  South Africa | 1 | 1 | 0 | +24 | 5 |
| 2 |  New Zealand | 1 | 1 | 0 | +2 | 5 |
| 3 |  Japan | 1 | 1 | 0 | +17 | 4 |
| 4 | Australia | 1 | 0 | 1 | -2 | 2 |
| 5 |  Argentina | 1 | 0 | 1 | -9 | 1 |
| 6 |  Fiji | 1 | 0 | 1 | -15 | 0 |
| Europe | ||||||
| 1 |  Wales | 1 | 1 | 0 | +15 | 5 |
| 2 |  Scotland | 1 | 1 | 0 | +9 | 5 |
| 3 |  Ireland | 1 | 1 | 0 | +2 | 5 |
| 4 | France | 1 | 0 | 1 | -2 | 2 |
| 5 |  Italy | 1 | 0 | 1 | -17 | 0 |
| 6 |  England | 1 | 0 | 1 | -24 | 0 |
Australia
W0, L5Five straight defeats and counting. The Wallabies opened their Nations Championship with a gutsy 33–31 loss to Ireland — a losing bonus point and a genuine improvement on the winless 2025 European tour that preceded it (England, Italy, Ireland, France, none of them won). Joe Schmidt's side competed for 80 minutes against Ireland and were unlucky to lose by two, but the bare truth is they haven't won a Test since a 19–15 grind in Japan last October, and they've now shipped 178 points across their last five. The performance line is trending up; the results line is a wall.
France
W3, L2France were the 2026 Six Nations champions and it shows in the numbers — 207 points across their last five, a 54–12 demolition of Wales and a 48–46 title-sealer over England among them. The eye-catcher, though, is Round 1: a shadow, development French XV missing Ntamack, Meafou and every Top 14 finalist still ran New Zealand to 34–32 in Christchurch, banking losing and try bonuses. Now the cavalry has arrived. This is a materially better France than the one that lost last week, and they'll fancy their chances of turning close into decisive.
Head-to-Head Record
9 – 0 – 7
Australia wins · Draws · France wins (last 16 meetings)
Australia (9)The all-time ledger favours Australia 9–7, but the recent one-off trend is blue: France have won the last three meetings — 30–29 (2022), 41–17 (2023) and 48–33 (2025) — all of them in Paris. Read the venue split, though, and the story flips. France have not won a Test in Australia since the 2021 second Test in Brisbane (28–26); the Wallabies took that three-match series 2–1 and swept France 3–0 on home soil in 2014 (50–23, 6–0, 39–13). France travel to Brisbane with a psychological edge from Europe and a historical millstone Down Under.
Recent Results
| Date | Competition | Result |
|---|---|---|
| Nov 2025 | Autumn Test | France 48–33 Australia |
| Aug 2023 | Summer Test | France 41–17 Australia |
| Nov 2022 | Autumn Test | France 30–29 Australia |
| Jul 2021 | Test Series | Australia 33–30 France |
| Jul 2021 | Test Series | Australia 26–28 France |
| Jul 2021 | Test Series | Australia 23–21 France |
Average score in the last 6 meetings: Across the last three meetings — all in France — Les Bleus have averaged 40–26. But the last time these sides met in Australia, in the 2021 series, the margins were razor-thin (23–21, 26–28, 33–30) and the Wallabies edged it 2–1. France's only win on Australian soil this century is that 2021 Brisbane Test.
Extended Form
Australia5W, 11L (last 12 months)
Since July 2025: a drawn-out Lions series lost 2–1 (with a 22–12 dead-rubber win), a Rugby Championship that included a stunning 38–22 win in South Africa but defeats to New Zealand (twice), Argentina and the Springboks, a 19–15 win in Japan, a winless four-Test European tour, and a 33–31 Round 1 loss to Ireland.
Australia can beat anyone on their day — the Johannesburg win over the Springboks is proof of the ceiling — but the floor is a team that loses two of every three. Under Schmidt they are better organised and more competitive than the record suggests, as the two-point Ireland loss showed, yet they keep coming up just short. The pattern is chronic: compete for an hour, then lose the game in the details.
France6W, 6L (last 12 months)
2026 Six Nations champions (beat Ireland, Wales, Italy, England; lost only to Scotland). Also beat Australia 48–33 and Fiji 34–21 in November, lost 32–17 to South Africa. The blot is New Zealand: a 3–0 home-series sweep in July 2025, and now the 34–32 Round 1 defeat in Christchurch.
France's win-loss looks middling, but every one of their defeats came against the two best sides on the planet — New Zealand (four times) and South Africa. Against everyone else they have been ruthless, none more so than the England and Wales scorelines. With their finalists now integrated into the touring squad, this is close to the France that ran the table in Europe.
Australia XV
A fly-half crisis forces Schmidt's hand: with both Carter Gordon and Ben Donaldson ruled out by calf injuries, Brumbies playmaker Declan Meredith is handed his Test debut at No. 10 against an imposing France pack. Tom Wright returns at fullback (Jock Campbell drops to the bench) and is the other change from the Ireland side. The pack is unchanged — Harry Wilson captains from No. 8 behind Valetini and McReight, with Josh Canham and Jeremy Williams locking. Record cap-holder James Slipper is again among a heavy bench that carries Taniela Tupou and Tate McDermott.
France XV
Fabien Galthié makes seven changes from the side beaten in Christchurch, integrating five Top 14 finalists and fielding a genuinely front-line France. Romain Ntamack returns at fly-half, which shunts the dangerous Matthieu Jalibert to fullback — the first time the pair start together for France. Emmanuel Meafou and Florian Verhaeghe form a brand-new second row, Peato Mauvaka returns at hooker, and Lenni Nouchi debuts in the back row. Brisbane-born Moses Alo-Emile earns a Test debut at loosehead in his home city. On the wing, Aaron Grandidier-Nkanang comes in for Damian Penaud, who misses the rest of the tour with a calf injury. Maxime Lucu captains from scrum-half; Antoine Dupont and Grégory Alldritt remain absent.
Key Matchups
The game turns on the No. 10 mismatch and the set piece. Australia debut Declan Meredith at fly-half out of sheer necessity, and asking an uncapped playmaker to run the show against Ntamack's control, Jalibert's counter-threat from fullback and a 6ft 7in Meafou anchoring the French set piece is a brutal first assignment. France's front five is Test-grade and should own the scrum and the collision. Australia's counter lives in their back row — Valetini and McReight are a genuine breakdown threat, and if they can disrupt French ball and get Suaalii running downhill on the fringes, Suncorp will roar them into a contest. But France now have the forward platform to strangle that supply, and behind it the class to punish a raw Wallaby half-back axis. The Wallabies' best 60 minutes still might not be enough.
Match Forecast
France should edge this. The scorecard nets out at -5 from the Australian view, and the drivers are clear: a materially stronger French side — seven changes and five Top 14 finalists from the XV that still ran New Zealand to two points — against a Wallaby team on a five-Test losing run and now forced to hand a debut to Declan Meredith at fly-half after calf injuries wiped out both Carter Gordon and Ben Donaldson. Meafou, Mauvaka and Bamba should win the set-piece battle, and Ntamack's control with Jalibert's counter behind him is a level above what Australia can muster at 10.
The caveat is Australia's home record against France and their improving performance line. Les Bleus have not won a Test on Australian soil since 2021, the Wallabies took that series 2–1, and Schmidt's men were a two-point, losing-bonus outfit against Ireland last week — this is not the winless-tour team of November. A raucous Suncorp crowd, Valetini and McReight bending the breakdown, and Suaalii's strike could keep it within a score for an hour. But France have too much forward power and half-back class over 80 minutes, and a debutant 10 is a heavy weight to carry against this pack.
France by 6–12 — the Wallabies will make Suncorp loud and stay in it for an hour, but a debutant fly-half against Ntamack, Jalibert and Meafou is a bridge too far.
France have not won a Test on Australian soil since the second Test in Brisbane in 2021 — the Wallabies took that three-match series 2–1.
With both Carter Gordon and Ben Donaldson ruled out by calf injuries, Brumbies playmaker Declan Meredith starts his first Test at fly-half against Ntamack and Jalibert.
Australia carry a five-Test losing streak into this — though their Round 1 effort was a two-point, losing-bonus defeat to Ireland, not a capitulation.
Fabien Galthié makes seven changes and integrates five Top 14 finalists — Ntamack and Jalibert start together for the first time, with Jalibert at fullback.
Brisbane-born loosehead Moses Alo-Emile earns his first France cap in his home city, part of a brand-new French front five alongside Mauvaka and Meafou.
France have won the last three meetings with Australia — 30–29, 41–17 and 48–33 — but every one of them was played in Paris.