After each putting up a tremendous fight in the face of less than favourable odds last weekend, Australia and France face off at Lang Park in Matchday 2 of Nations Championship 2026. But while the outlook is decidedly rosier for Les Bleus this time around, the Wallabies' injury crisis has somehow deepened even further.
With Australia now on a five-game losing streak, the last thing they needed was for first choice fly-half Carter Gordon to be ruled out with a calf issue… and for backup Ben Donaldson to come down with a similar issue straight after.
In comes uncapped Declan Meredith â becoming the eighth fly-half to feature for Joe Schmidt in a little over a year. The silver lining is that the Brumbies man is joined in the team by his club teammates Len Ikitau, Tom Wright and Ryan Lonergan.
Despite having to play a second-string lineup, France came within a whisker of toppling the All Blacks in their own backyard. Antoine Dupont aside, Fabien Galthie has almost all of his heavy artillery back for this clash in Brisbane, and he hasn't been shy about ringing in the changes.
Most of the contingent who played in the Top 14 final have come stright into the team, including Romain Ntamack, Peato Mauvaka, Emmanuel Meafou and Lenni Nouchi. However, the back-to-back Six Nations champions have also thrown in a curveball by naming injured fly-half Matthieu Jalibert at full-back, a role he's rarely played.
Wing Aaron Grandidier-Nkanang, who won Olympic gold with France's sevens team two years ago, is in line to make his debut off the bench.
Read on as we explain how to watch Australia vs France for free in the 2026 Nations Championship.
Can you watch Australia vs France for free?
Yes. Australia vs France is being shown on free-to-air Rugbypass TV in the US, on ITVX in the UK, on Virgin Media Play in Ireland and on 9Now in Australia.
Traveling abroad right now? You can use a VPN to watch Australia vs France for free as if you were right at home.