Australia advance into final

Australia are the first team through to the Four Nation's final emerging 42-4 victors over the France at Charlety Stadium.

However it was far from professional as Australia were their own worst enemy in the first half commiting a batch of simple errors with the ball in hand robbing them of easy points.

It would take all of 22 minutes before Australia found themselves on the scoreboard when exciting debutant Michael Jennings raced onto a Lockyer pass and sprinted his way to the try line.

It turned out to be quite the day for the plucky Penrith centre who went onto bag a hat-trick of tries including a sixty metre effort in the second half.

Eventually Australia went on with the job scoring an impressive 34 points which included four tries by the Morris twins.

For the home side, they'll be dissapointed by the final score line as they put in another courageous performance. Captain Oliver Elima combined well with fiery prop David Ferriol who looked to challenge the Aussies up the middle. Unfortunately the French just didn't have the attrition to match the Aussies nor the backline which struggled to pose a threat to the Australians.

Australia will look onto the clash between England and New Zealand which gets underway in less than an hour. The winner of course will meet Australia in the final.

Match Details
Australia 42 def France 4
Four Nations Round 3 - Sunday November 8th, 2009 01:30am Venue: Stade Charlety, Paris, France Referee: Leon Williamson (NZL)
Sideline Officials: Clint Sharrad (ENG) & Adam Burns (AUS)
Video Referee: Ian Smith (ENG) Crowd: 0 Halftime: France 0 Australia 8

France 4
Tries: Olivier Elima
Goals: Thomas Bosc (0/1)

Australia 42
Tries: Michael Jennings (3), Luke Lewis, Brett Morris (2), Josh Morris (2)
Goals: Johnathan Thurston (3/5), Kurt Gidley (2/3)

LeagueUnlimited.com Player of the Match 3 Points: Michael Jennings (Australia) 2 Points: Brett Morris (Australia) 1 Point: Darren Lockyer (Australia)

LeagueUnlimited.com Live Commentary You can discuss the Four Nations tournament as well as the other International Rugby League being played right now - including the Pacific Cup and European Cups - simply click here!

FRANCE: 1. Clint Greenshields 2. Vincent Duport 3. Teddy Sadaoui 4. Sebastien Raguin 5. Dimitri Pelo 6. Thomas Bosc 7. James Wynne 8. David Ferrioll 9. Kane Bentley 10. Arty Shead 11. Oliver Elima (c) 12. Julien Touxagas 13. Andrew Bentley Interchange: 14. Christophe Moly 15. Romain Gagliazzo 16. Sebastien Martins 17. Mathieu Griffi AUSTRALIA: 1. Kurt Gidley 2. Brett Morris 3. Josh Morris 4. Michael Jennings 5. Jarryd Hayne 6. Darren Lockyer (c) 7. Johnathan Thurston 8. Ben Hannant 9. Robbie Farah 10. Petero Civoniceva 11. Trent Waterhouse 12. Ryan Hoffman 13. Nathan Hindmarsh Interchange: 14. Cooper Cronk 15. Luke Lewis 16. David Shillington 17. Sam Thaiday

The fifth game of the Four Nations shapes up to be an interesting contest with both sides fighting for completely different goals.

For the home side, France will be looking to make sure they exit the tournament with some pride and what better way to do that than defeat one of the best sides in the world in Australia?

Conversely, Australia will be looking to ensure they control their own destiny in the tournament.

Kick off isn't too far away. For any night owls enjoy the live updates and feel free to post on the message board.

Australia kicks us off

2 min: A kick by Johnathan Thurston stays in goal for an eternity before beating a racing Josh Morris by a split second.

4 min: A Robbie Farah kick traps France in the in goal. Brilliant chase by the Morris twins.

5 min: A loose Lockyer pass and a poor Morris attempt at retrieving the ball relieves France.

6 min: A sneaky French chip kick ends in an Australian mistake. France with an oppurtunity 35m out from the Australian line.

7 min: PENALTY FRANCE Wynne is hit high by Gallen. France take the tap 15m out.

9 min: PENALTY AUSTRALIA France hold Thurston down too long.

10 min: Kurt Gidley throws a brilliant offload to Josh Morris who's caught in a brilliant tackle by Greenshields that forces Morris over the sideline.

11 min: PENALTY FRANCE Australia found to be offside.

12 min: France challenges the Australian line but a cross field bomb is defused by the Dally M medalist Jarryd Hayne.

12 min: PENALTY AUSTRALIA Hayne also receives a penalty

14 min: Lockyer fumbles the ball on the fifth tackle. Costing Australia a perfect oppurtunity to post points.

14 min: PENALTY FRANCE

15 min: Gidley diffuses a brilliant France grubber.

15 min: PENALTY AUSTRALIA

16 min: KNOCK ON AUSTRALIA A questionable tackle by Oliver Elima forces Farah to lose the ball in prime position.

19 min: France spread it to the left and make a nice break to find themselves 30m out.

20 min: A shallow Bosc grubber ruins whatever hopes they had to post first points.

21 min: PENALTY AUSTRALIA

22 min: VIDEO REF: AUSTRALIA Video referee is checking to see if Michael Jennings has grounded the ball.

22 min: The video referee is taking an age...

22 min: TRY Australia Jennings explodes onto a Lockyer pass and scores in the right hand corner. Conversion unsuccesful. Conversion attempt by Johnathan Thurston unsuccessful. Australia 4-0

23 min: PENALTY AUSTRALIA

24 min: Gidley held up after making a wonderful break.

25 min: Farah darts from dummy half but is denied by the desperate France defence.

26 min: TRY Australia Lockyer throws a brilliant pass to Michael Jennings who slices the French defence to score. Conversion unsuccesful. Conversion attempt by Johnathan Thurston unsuccessful. Australia 8-0

30 min: Knock on Australia.

31 min: Knock On Australia Lockyer fires an inside pass to Waterhouse who fails to take it.

33 min: PENALTY FRANCE An extremely belated penalty to France is given 10m out from Australia's line. Perfect chance for France.

34 min: PENALTY FRANCE Australia offside

35 min: Jennings forces Pelo over the sideline to relieve Australia from the France onslaught.

36 min: Josh Morris throws a brilliant pass to Gidley who grubbers ahead but it hits Williamson gifting Australia a scrum 30m out from the French line.

37 min: PENALTY AUSTRALIA Waterhouse nearly crashes over but desperate French defence denies him. However they hold onto him for far too long.

38 min: Gidley throws a long pass out to the Morris' but they're denied by a frantic French hand. Australia with the scrum 10m out.

38 min: Hoffman loses it second tackle. Boy, Sheens is going to be giving the Aussies a spray at halftime.

39 min: Australia allows a France bomb to roll over the dead ball line.

40 min: Lockyer places a kick inside France's in-goal area with chasers in hot pursuit but Greenshields is happy to take it over the dead ball line to usher in half time!

HALF TIME: Australia head into the sheds 8-0 up but it's been far from pretty as poor execution has dominated the state of play. Jennings has been brilliant and has really put the pressure on Justin Hodges who's form in the Four Nations has been luke warm.

France has been very courageous but they lack the talent to challenge the Australians.

40 min: Bosc starts as off!

40 min: PENALTY AUSTRALIA Australia awarded a penalty 30m out from their own line.

41 min: PENALTY AUSTRALIA Dangerous tackle. Australia tap it 20m out from the French line.

42 min: TRY Australia Lewis breaks two tackles before forcing his way over the line. Strong try by the Penrith veteren. Kurt Gidley bangs it over. Conversion attempt by Kurt Gidley successful. Australia 14-0

44 min: 40-20 Australia Cronk kicks a wonderful 40-20. Australia hot on attack.

45 min: TRY Australia Lockyer throws a long pass which ricochets off a French arm into Brett Morris' grasp who collects the ball and scores in the corner. Conversion unsuccesful. Conversion attempt by Kurt Gidley unsuccessful. Australia 18-0

47 min: Forward Pass Australia. Lewis throws a forward pass 40m from his own line.

48 min: France Knock On David Ferrioll knocks on 20m out from the Australian line.

49 min: PENALTY AUSTRALIA France penalised for discent. Deciding to swear in English instead of French. Idiot!

50 min: TRY Australia Darren Lockyer places a wonderful grubber kick into the left hand corner where Brett Morris out-runs his older brother to claim the four pointer. Conversion Succesful Conversion attempt by Kurt Gidley successful. Australia 24-0

52 min: VIDEO REFEREE AUSTRALIA Brett Morris chases a wonderful kick by Cooper Cronk but appears to knock on in his attempt to ground the ball.

52 min: NO TRY AUSTRALIA Video referee agree's.

53 min: French receive the ball 40m away from the Australian line after a break down the left hand side.

54 min: A great kick by James Wynne forces Gidley to take the ball over the dead ball line.

56 min: TRY Australia Greenshields is met by a ferocious tackle by Jarryd Hayne and Jennings takes the loose ball and races 60m to score. Hodges better watch out! Conversion Succesful! Thursto breaks the duck. Conversion attempt by Johnathan Thurston successful. Australia 30-0

59 min: A wayward pass by Robbie Farah results in an Australian knock on 40m out.

60 min: VIDEO REFEREE FRANCE A beautiful bomb by Thomas Bosc is collected by French captain Oliver Eilma and it appears to be a try.

60 min: TRY France The video referee confirms. Try to Elima. Conversion Unsuccesful. Conversion attempt by Thomas Bosc unsuccessful. Australia 30-4

63 min: Penalty France David Ferrioll throws a wonderful offload to Thomas Bosc who races ten metres before kicking ahead only to be taken out by the Australians. Penalty 18m out from the Australian line.

65 min: Hindmarsh alleviates by taking the grubber just outside his line on the full. First time I've seen him all game.

67 min: Hoffman makes a break and tackles himself

67 min: TRY Australia Doesn't stop Australia from scoring as Thurston sends Brett Morris down the sideline who finds his twin brother Josh on the inside who caps off his debut with a nice try. Conversion Succesful Conversion attempt by Johnathan Thurston successful. Australia 36-4

71 min: France knocks on 40m out from their own line.

71 min: TRY Australia Jennings throws a brilliant offload to a racing Josh Morris who runs 30m to score. Conversion succesful. Conversion attempt by Johnathan Thurston successful. Australia 42-4

74 min: Australia knock on 20m out from their own line. C'mon France make your country proud!

75 min: Sebastien Raguin dies with the ball. Dissapointing set by the French men.

76 min: Thurston places a wonderful chip kick to find Gidley who takes the tackle after his outside men over run him. Thurston places a bomb to the wing of Pelo who takes it beautifully and makes a wonderful run and earns his side a penalty.

77 min: Penalty France head high on Pelo.

77 min: Pelo forced over the sideline by Hayne 10m outside the Aus line.

79 min: Pelo knocks on as France are looking to spread the ball. Australian scrum 30m out from their own line. Let's see what they can do with 13 seconds left.

80 min: Thurston places a sneaky grubber behind the French line but the ball beats Brett Morris and ends up in the hands of the French who take it over the dead ball line to usher in full time.

Full-Time: Australia runs out 42-4 winners after an improved second half. France tried hard but Australia were far too classy.