The Wallabies are planning to go on the attack in their final dead rubber Test against France after last week’s lacklustre series win, skipper Michael Hooper said on Friday.
The Wallabies’ dour try-less 6-0 victory in Melbourne last weekend clinched the best of three Test series against the French but there were few thrills to please the fans.
Hooper said he is hoping his side can deliver a performance similar to their 50-23 romp over Les Bleus in the first Brisbane Test a fortnight ago.
“We want to be playing attacking rugby — three o’clock (kickoff), sunny weather is perfect for us,” Hooper told reporters.
“Watching your backs run in tries, it’s a really happy day for myself and the team.
“Going back to the first (Brisbane) game, it was really nice, really positive to see seven tries being scored.
“To go to the next week and not see a single try scored, we’ve won two ways and we enjoyed winning the way we did in the first game.
“So we’ll be looking to run it and looking to impose our game on the French again and that game is scoring tries.”
With the series wrapped up, Hooper admits the pressure has eased but victory and an historic 3-0 series clean sweep remain the priority in the Wallabies’ final Test before their Rugby Championship and Bledisloe Cup opener against the All Blacks in August.
“There’s definitely the opportunity to challenge ourselves and be really adventurous when we’ve got the ball in smart positions,” he said.
“We don’t want to be a team that’s just going to throw it from everywhere because that’s been proven that you get punished for mistakes in your own end.
“But we’ll be looking to definitely try things.”
Few teams have the ability to punish opposition quite like France and scrum-half Nic White said the Wallabies were expecting Les Bleus to be at their best at Allianz Stadium on Saturday.
“They’ve got all the ingredients. When it all clicks together they’re a very dangerous side and that’s the type of side we’re preparing for this weekend, that’s for sure,” White said.
“They’re as physical as the South Africans and at times as skilful as the Kiwis so, when they’re on, they’ve got all the ingredients to show why they’re at the business end of a World Cup.”
Hooper’s breakdown battle with French captain Thierry Dusautoir and recalled Fulgence Ouedraogo looms again, while the Wallabies are expecting big things from towering lock Will Skelton in his Wallabies’ debut.
The Wallabies are chasing their best winning run in 14 years and France a first win in Australia since 1990 in Saturday’s final Test.
Should Australia again beat France this weekend, it will be the first time since 2000 that the team has won seven consecutive Tests.