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Australia bring France down to earth in thriller

Australia gave France a reality check on Saturday by claiming a third win in their November tour with a thrilling 25-23 victory in Paris. Guy Noves's France had been aiming to build on a morale-boosting 52-8 thrashing of Samoa in Toulouse a week ago, and a promising 27-0 win over Argentina in June. But the Wallabies provided a step up in class for Toulouse legend Noves, now in his first full season as France coach. The Australians rallied from 8-0 down at the Stade de France to lead 13-11 at half-time, and they then held off a late French charge with Camille Lopez missing a drop-goal in the last play of the match. "It's very frustrating because we could have won at the end," said Noves. "We're on an extremely rewarding and steep learning curve. "I hope that the next time we won't wait for half-time, that we can also show that by holding the ball and with speed we can also put our rivals in difficulty." Both sides scored three tries -- the Wallabies' first a penalty try followed by one from Bernard Foley, a late call-up for the injured Quade Cooper and a spectacular effort from Tevita Kuridrani. Foley, Australia's goal-kicker, scored 15 points in all. France's tries came from wing Virimi Vakatawa, fly-half Jean-Marc Doussain and centre Wesley Fofana. "The players were very downcast in the changing room," said France captain Guilhem Guirado. "We really wanted to match up against a top three team. There will be a lot of soul-searching as we prepare for a very important week ahead for us." - 'Resilient' - France next play New Zealand in Paris on November 26. It will be the first time the teams have met since France were humiliated 62-13 by the All Blacks, the eventual champions, at last year's World Cup in England. Michael Cheika's Australians, who kicked off their tour with back-to-back wins against Wales and Scotland, next play Ireland and England, as they eye a first Grand Slam over the four 'Home Nations' since 1984. "We proved resilient like when we were 8-0 in the first half," said Cheika. "We couldn't maintain that rhythm in the second half because we were tired, less disciplined. "We gave them (France) too much space which in turn put us under pressure." The French got off to a determined start, with a Maxime Machenaud penalty opening the scoring after six minutes. They continued to pile pressure on Australia's defence with Fijian-born wing Vakatawa charging over for the first try on 17 minutes. But Foley got the Wallabies off the mark with a penalty after 22 minutes as the French conceded 13 points. France's Charles Ollivon was given a yellow card after 25 for his involvement in bringing down a rolling maul. Another Foley penalty added to Australia's tally in the 37th minute after Remi Lamerat was penalised for holding on, but Machenaud pulled the hosts to within two points before half-time with a penalty as the Wallabies headed into the break with a 13-11 lead. But Foley crossed early in the second half and extended Australia's lead to 20-11 by converting his own try. Doussain responded with a try in the 53rd minutes but, not to be outdone, Kuridrani replied for the Wallabies five minutes later to make it 25-16. The home fans believed until the end when Fofana brought France to within two points after 67 minutes. France set themselves up for a last-minute drop-goal only for Lopez's effort to drift to the left.