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THE honeymoon period is clearly over already as new Australia coach Robbie Deans warned his players to raise their game or face the consequences when they tackle France this weekend. The New Zealander was in charge for the first time in the 18-12 win over Ireland earlier this month.Aa He was not impressed with that patchy effort and, although he has named the same XV for the France match, he has warned he will ring the changes if they do not improve.
Deans said: "You're always on notice. Nothing's forever. You get a very brief moment in this jersey - the opportunity to play at this level, to represent your country.Aa What we would like is for these blokes to look back and say 'yeah, 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 against this French side, they'll sting us. If we present a chase line as flawed as it was in Melbourne, they'll bite us.
"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."
The French had a poor Six Nations under new coach Marc Lievremont but Deans is under no illusions as to how tough it will be. "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. If you want my opinion, I believe this is a stronger side than the one in the Six Nations and they've got some capabilities in areas we are potentially a bit vulnerable, certainly based on our first outing."
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