All Blacks: Wallabies better than NZ, says French assistant

France assistant coach Emile Ntamack says that the Wallabies are better than the All Blacks. Photo / Getty Images

France assistant coach Emile Ntamack rates the current Wallabies as better than the All Blacks and thinks they will provide the toughest challenge of their rugby tour on Saturday.

The French arrived in Sydney last night with the Dave Gallaher Trophy from their series victory, on points differential, over the All Blacks who won the second test 14-10 in Wellington last Saturday.

Quizzed on the merits of the trans-Tasman rivals, Ntamack gave the edge to Robbie Deans' Australian side after watching their 2-0 series win over Six Nations tailenders Italy.

"Maybe the Wallabies team is better than the New Zealand team for the moment," he said today.

"If you can compare the two teams, the Wallabies have a lot of very good players, experience in important positions like 10, fullback, flanker ... "

All Blacks stars Richie McCaw and Dan Carter were the notable injury absentees from the French series while a host of other frontliners were also ruled out due to injury.

Ntamack said Saturday's test at ANZ Stadium would be a big ask, so soon after back-to-back tests against the All Blacks.

"Will it be easier? I'm not sure. We know the next game will be the hardest game of the tour. We know the Australian team very well and we know they have some very good experienced players.

"It's been a long season for the French players, I know they are very tired. This week we need some recovery because it was a very physical match.

"We have to be better than last Saturday with our strategy, the ruck, the lineout, the scrums, a lot of things."

- NZPA