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SYDNEY - Robbie Deans today warned his rusty Wallabies to shape up or ship out after pinning rarely-seen faith in his developing squad for Saturday night's first rugby test against France at Sydney's ANZ Stadium.
Deans named the same 22 players who escaped with a patchy 18-12 victory over Ireland in his first test in charge 10 days ago before dramatically declaring his welcoming party well and truly over.
While Deans' public show of stability came as a refreshing change to senior Wallabies - after his predecessor John Connolly's 27-test tenure not once featured the same line-up for back-to-back matches - Australia's first foreign coach insisted it would be foolish for any of his charges to take ongoing selection for granted.
After labelling the Wallabies' performance against Ireland as barely acceptable and, at times, downright poor, the former Bledisloe Cup-winning All Black said he believed in second chances.
But, after that, future test caps must be earned.
Everyone, Deans said, from skipper Stirling Mortlock down, were on notice.
"You're always on notice. Nothing's forever," he said.
"You get a very brief moment in this jersey - the opportunity to play at this level, to represent your country.
"What we would like is for these blokes to be able to look back and say `yeah, well, in my time I maximised the opportunity'.
"We're still in the early stages. They made a good start, but not a great start. We'll need to be better."
Deans was particularly dissatisfied with the Wallabies' kick-chase defence against the Irish and said a repeat effort against what he considers to be a superior French outfit than the one which placed third in this year's Six Nations tournament would not suffice.
"Against this team, this French side, they'll sting us. If we present a chase line as flawed as it was in Melbourne, they'll bite us," he said.
"I'm expecting improvement. (I'm) very conscious of the fact that without improvement we won't get home where we were lucky enough to get home in the first instance."
Superstar five-eighth Matt Giteau said while Deans' show of faith was "nice", the coach's message to the players was "very clear".
"Once you're playing test rugby, you know (you must perform)," Giteau said.
"The competition for spots is pretty fierce at the moment."
There is a perception that the tourists - featuring just one survivor from France's starting side which lost to England in last year's World Cup semi-final - is only second-rate.
Deans, though, said that was rubbish and demanded the Wallabies lift or face the consequences.
"You could drag someone off the street and put them in a French jersey and they'll play out of their skin. That's just a reality," he said.
"And, if you're not sure on that, check the history.
"But these blokes aren't dragged off the street. These blokes are picked for what they've got.
"They're very capable and a powerful mix - in terms of where they've got their experience, where they've got their key decision-makers and play-makers - nine, 10, 12, 13 - plus their youthful enthusiasm and pace that they've got working off that.
"If you want my opinion, I believe this is a stronger side than what they presented through Six Nations and they've got some capabilities in areas we are potentially a bit vulnerable, certainly based on our first outing."
Deans said France's signature unpredictability was "a big part" of their play.
"They've also got ball players, they've got pace out wide and they won't want to be returning home wondering if they've given it a crack," he said.
"So we're picking they'll be coming to do that."
- AAP
