SUPER SUB Mitch Hardy scored two tries in three minutes to power Australia to an astonishing 29-15 victory over Five Nations champions France in Sydney on Saturday.
In 13 eventful minutes on the field as a temporary replacement for full back Stephen Larkham, the ACT Brumbies winger wrecked French hopes after the contest was poised at 15-15.
A 61st minute try by Toulouse centre Thomas Castaignede, who sprinted clear after running onto a pass from out half David Aucagne, had wiped out Australia's lead after skipper John Eales had kicked three straight penalties to reverse an 8-6 half time deficit.
But just when the Five Nations champions looked set to push on for victory, 26 year old Hardy stepped through three French tackles to score in the 67th minute.
Then he was in again. Young Queensland winger Ben Tune, an outstanding performer on the night, kicked ahead from halfway but the ball eluded him and ricocheted to Hardy, who expertly dribbled the ball left footed to win the chase over the line.
Hardy's tries catapulted the Wallabies to a 14 point lead with 10 minutes left and in a twinkling his incredible Test debut was over when he returned to the interchange bench upon Larkham's reappearence following running repairs to a gashed mouth.
"It was something special tonight for me," said Hardy, who came into the squad with last week's injury withdrawal of full back Malt Burke.
It was only in the frenetic closing stages that Australia began cracking the formidable French defence and for long periods the Five Nations champions looked in control of proceedings - although they fell foul of Welsh referee Clayton Thomas.
Thomas penalised the French seven times in succession in the second half in that time Eales had kicked the Wallabies to a seven point lead at 15-8 before Castaignede's try deservedly put the French level.
Skipper Eales finished with five penalties and two conversions for 19 points. Richard Dourthe had three shots at goal for the French, landing a penalty and a conversion.
The Wallabies, playing their first international of the season, were troubled by the lively French half backs, Philippe Carbonneau and Aucagne. Full back Jean Luc Sadourny, too, made several darting runs.
France asserted their dominance during the second quarter of the first half after Eales had kicked his second penalty goal in the 21st minute to give the Wallabies a 6-3 advantage.
The adventurous French brought applause from the crowd when they elected to take a tap kick from a penalty deep in Australia's half and Abdel Benazzi was held up over the try line by a massed Australian defence in the 34th minute.
But their boldness was rewarded two minutes later when they took another tap penalty and the ball spun out to Aucagne, whose grubber kick for the corner had winger Philippe Bernat Salles beating rival Joe Roff to the ball for a try.
Dourthe missed the difficult conversion from out wide, but the French almost scored again well after the half time siren when Sadourny launched a counter attack and Australia had to scramble the ball to safety to only trail by two points at the break.
The second and final international takes place in Brisbane next Saturday.
