MELBOURNE, July 11 (Reuters) - Winger Aaron Grandidier-Nkanang scored a brace of tries on test debut as France came from behind to crush Australia 42-26 in their Nations Championship match in Brisbane on Saturday.
Among eight changes to France's starting 15, Olympic sevens gold medallist Grandidier-Nkanang touched down in both halves to help Les Bleus rebound from their 34-32 loss to New Zealand last week with a bonus-point victory.
The Six Nations champions trailed 21-12 at half-time at Suncorp Stadium after two early tries from Wallabies flanker Fraser McReight, but they rallied superbly, scoring 30 unanswered points in a four-try burst to dismantle the hosts.
"It was a very, very tough first half," said flyhalf Romain Ntamack. "We knew we had to keep pushing, and we're really happy about that second half."
France will head into their final test of the mid-year Nations Championship phaseagainst Japan with confidence, while Australia, who slumped to their ninth loss in 10 matches, will meet Italy, 47-17 losers to New Zealand earlier on Saturday.
New Zealand-born lock Emmanuel Meafou crashed over in the third minute to open the scoring for the French but Australia hit back almost immediately with a try to hooker Brandon Paenga-Amosa.
UNSTOPPABLE
Grandidier-Nkanang nudged France ahead with his first try in the 18th minute but the match turned again when Meafou was given a yellow card for a high tackle on Rob Valetini.
McReight burrowed over the line to snatch the lead back for the Wallabies and grabbed a second five-pointer from the back of a maul after a well-executed lineout drive before the interval.
Maxime Lucu trimmed the lead to six points with a long-range penalty after the break, and from there France were unstoppable.
Yoram Moefana made a terrific line-break before being brought down a metre from the line.
Lucu shifted the ball wide to fullback MatthieuJalibert who chipped over to the left corner where Grandidier-Nkanang collected the ball off the bounce and planted it over the line.
With Wallabies fullback Tom Wright given a yellow card for not rolling away from a ruck near the try-line, France stormed ahead with a showcase of pace, power and precision.
Ntamack danced through defenders Ryan Lonergan and James Slipper to cross at the left corner in the 53rd minute before lock Florian Verhaeghe dived under the posts.
With Australia's defence tiring, Kalvin Gourgues made another line-break on the right flank, setting up winger Theo Attissogbe for another try seven minutes from time.
Jeremy Williams grabbed a late try to improve the scoreboard for the Wallabies but it was scant consolation for the Lang Park crowd little more than a year out from Australia hosting the World Cup.
Schmidt's tenure, which began with a winless European tour to close 2025, is ending on a sour note, with Italy his final match before Les Kiss takes over.
Forced to play debutant Declan Meredith as starting flyhalf after injuries to Carter Gordon and Ben Donaldson, ashen-faced Schmidt said Australia owed fans a better effort in second halves.
"We can't afford to fall away in the back half of games," he said.
"That will be something we will certainly target next week."
(Reporting by Ian Ransom; Editing by Hugh Lawson)
