KEY POINTS:
One of the few positives to come from rugby tours by under-strength northern hemisphere teams is that they often throw up new stars who recover from the defeats down under to become leading lights.
Jonny Wilkinson is the most oft-quoted example. He toured Australia with England in 1998
in the 'Tour From Hell' but went to on become the kingpin whose dropkick sealed England's 2003 World Cup win in Australia; against the Wallabies who had so enthusiastically slaughtered Wilkinson and his team-mates five years previous.
France - already being called the Baby Bleus - have made no secret of the experimental nature of the team which played Australia in the second test last night. But who will be the rising stars who emerge from this tour and who might take their place when a full-strength French side again takes on the Wallabies, at home, in November.
Try these names: props Reynaud Boyoud and Pierre Corriela, winger Alexis Palisson and flanker Fulgence Ouedraogo.
Palisson is the young Brive winger - still only 20 - who got himself into trouble before last week's first test (and his test debut) when he was quoted as saying he was going to "pull down" Lote Tuqiri's pants.
The Wallabies bristled at such a show of insouciance from a rookie and hinted at comeuppance and matters looked a bit grim for Palisson who, at 75kg, is nearly 30kg lighter than the big Fijian winger and 16cm shorter.
But Palisson did what he said, figuratively speaking anyway. In the first minutes of the first test, he rounded Tuqiri with his blazing speed - he is said to be one of the fastest players in rugby - and scored France's only try by showing strength to burst through the tackle of Australian captain Stirling Mortlock; one of those who had issued subtle signs of retribution.
Palisson was highly visible in support play and his speed makes him dangerous every time he gets the ball. After last week's test, he calimed to have been motivated by the "pants down" quote as he maintained vigorously he'd said no such thing.
As he has had only a handful of games at Top 14 level in France, Palisson is a real novice but could go on to become one of France's top wingers - and he may yet haunt the Wallabies in November even if he doesn't lay a hand on their shorts.
Boyoud, part of the Dax front row which shunted everyone before them this season, is a little reminiscent of the huge and menacing French prop of the 70s, Gerard Cholley - if only for the fact that both are expert exponents of the art of intimidation.
Cholley was a former paratrooper and heavyweight boxer who weighed in at over 120kg and stood 1.93m and who was reputed to have laid out four Scots in one match.
Boyoud doesn't come with quite the same reputation for aggression but his judo expertise means he is treated with respect, in much the same way that All Black prop Steve McDowell, also a formidable judo exponent, was.
However it is Corriela, the Albi prop, who might inherit a bit more of Cholley's mantle. Said to possess a fiery temper, Corriela is being courted by Leicester after his French team was relegated.
