Player ratings: Cruise control
Despite only winning by three points, France were much the better side against the Wallabies in Paris.
Considering their dominance, the hosts should perhaps have won by more, but they will take encouragement from the quality of their performance regardless.
They confronted the visitors up front and showed some impressive finishing skills, but still found themselves hanging on to secure the victory in the final stages.
We rate the French players:
15 Scott Spedding
Still adjusting to the demands of Test rugby, he had a couple of soft moments like an early charged kick and a crucial missed tackle but showed plenty of enthusiasm.
5/10
14 Yoann Huget
Strong on his feet and caused problems for the Wallabies defence when he got the ball in space, but did not see enough ball.
6/10
13 Alexandre Dumoulin
A fairly quiet first half which saw him make his tackles but battled to add any momentum on attack and was brought off at half-time.
5/10
12 Wesley Fofana
A solid if not spectacular game, he linked well and took a good high ball but drifted out of the game at times.
6/10
11 Teddy Thomas
Got exposed under the high ball as the Wallabies kicked on him repeatedly but showed his worth with some brilliant stepping for his try.
7/10
10 Camille Lopez
An accomplished performance from the playmaker who controlled proceedings with confidence and varied his game well.
9/10
9 Sébastien Tillous-Borde
Impressive outing as the nippy scrumhalf kicked well and showed how dangerous he can be with ball in hand, but made some basic errors on defence.
7/10
8 Damien Chouly
An imposing presence at the back of the scrum, his handling let him down at times but his physicality is never in question.
6/10
7 Bernard Le Roux
Carried the ball up well and was used to contest the Wallabies' line-outs. Got through plenty of work on defence.
7/10
6 Thierry Dusautoir
Led from the front by providing his usual pressure at the breakdown and also showed that well-known appetite for tackling.
8/10
5 Yoann Maestri
Got stuck into the tight phases and made some big hits, but also showed some good skills under pressure.
7/10
4 Pascal Papé
Got in the Wallabies' faces as the hosts took them on up front and showed his value in the set-pieces as well.
6/10
3 Nicolas Mas
The experienced tighthead went down injured and got taken off at half-time, but he was solid as ever in his time on the park.
6/10
2 Guilhem Guirado
Showed plenty of energy as he took the ball up with gusto and also showed he can run and pass and create for those outside him.
7/10
1 Alexandre Menini
Although some calls went against them he generally had the better of his opposite number at scrum-time and made some big hits as well.
7/10
Replacements:
16 Benjamin Kayser (On for Guirado, 49 mins)
Worked hard in his time on the park and was reliable in the set-pieces.
6/10
17 Uini Atonio (On for Mas, 40 mins)
Injected plenty of urgency and threw his considerable weight around, not to mention some big scrums.
8/10
18 Xavier Chiocci (On for Menini, 56 mins)
Got scrum dominance straight away and did his fair share of work in the loose as well.
7/10
19 Sebastien Vahaaamahina (On for Pape, 56 mins)
Worked hard and got through a lot of tackles.
6/10
20 Yannick Nyanga (On for Le Roux, 74 mins)
Not enough time to be rated.
21 Rory Kockott (On for Tillous-Borde, 53 mins)
Made a real impact with some neat touches and showed good commitment to make a charge down.
8/10
22 Remi Tales (On for Lopez, 69 mins)
Only spent a few minutes on the pitch before being shown a yellow card to end his game.
4/10
23 Mathieu Bastareaud (On for Dumoulin, 40 mins)
Got over the gainline consistently as he added some much-needed punch to the French midfield.
7/10
By Michael de Vries
