French flush with options to torment winless Wallabies

Murray Wenzel | July 11, 2026

French captain Maxime Lucu has vowed to torment the Wallabies’ fledgling halves as the scrumhalf pulls the strings and fills the void of superstar countryman Antoine Dupont.

Toulouse champion and Olympic sevens gold medallist Dupont defied a calf injury on the way to a sixth Top 14 title in seven seasons, his absence again denying the southern hemisphere crowds a chance to see arguably the world’s best player in the flesh.

But in 33-Test No.9 Lucu the French still have a winner and a general – his Begles have won back-to-back European Champions Cups.

Incoming Toulouse flyhalf Romain Ntamack and Lucu’s Bordeaux clubmate Matthieu Jalibert – he’ll start at fullback after wearing the No.10 last week in Christchurch in a two-point loss to New Zealand – will combine to examine the re-jigged Wallabies in Brisbane on Saturday.

Declan Meredith will debut for the hosts and wear the No.10, while Jock Campbell, ordinarily a fullback or wing, will back him up from the bench.

Tom Wright, yet to hit his straps on return from a long-term knee injury, will start at fullback, while his and Meredith’s Brumbies teammate Ryan Lonergan will wear the No.9 in just his second start.

Lucu will turn to their Australian-laced pack to set the platform, as former Brisbane and Ipswich junior Moses Alo-Emile debuts in the front row, huge Brisbane-raised lock Emmanuel Meafou packs in behind him, and Canberra-born Tom Staniforth waits on the bench.

“Experienced or not, the half-back pairing is always put under pressure, so we will have to do that no matter what tomorrow,” Lucu said.

“We want to put pressure on them every time they carry the ball.”

The French have done their homework on the 27-year-old from Cairns, who has only broken through as a starter at the Brumbies this year.

“If their forwards give them forward momentum tomorrow, they are very good rugby players and they can be dangerous,” Lucu said. 

“Their 10 is a great attacker, so we will have to keep an eye on him.”

France beat Australia 48-33 to complete a 0-4 European tour for the visitors last year, their first winless campaign of at least four Tests since 1958.

A loss on Saturday at Suncorp Stadium would be a sixth straight defeat and ninth in 10 Tests.

It would leave coach Joe Schmidt with an 11-19 record ahead of his final Test in charge, needing a win to improve marginally on Dave Rennie’s current winning percentage low mark of 38 per cent among Wallabies coaches.

Lucu doesn’t think they’re going that badly, though.

“When you look at the results, they are not far from toppling big nations,” he said. 

“We saw it against Ireland last week (in a 33-31 loss), where they would have won if they had managed the last five minutes better. 

“The victory wouldn’t have been undeserved because they played a great match. 

“They play well, they keep the ball, they are strong, they have enormous ball-carriers to tire out the opposition. It’s not going their way because sometimes they play a bit too much, but they have a good team.

“We will need to put in a serious performance; it’s going to be tough.”