BRISBANE, Australia — Romain Ntamack returned for France and orchestrated a huge comeback as the Six Nations titlists turned a 21-12 halftime deficit into a 42-26 victory over Australia on Saturday in the second round of the rugby Nations Championship.Winger Aaron Grandidier-Nkanang chimed in with two tries on debut, including the first of the second half that triggered a run of 30 consecutive points that set the French on course for a fourth straight win over the Wallabies.It was France’s first win over Australia in Brisbane since 1972, and it consigned the Wallabies to a sixth consecutive test loss. Ntamack missed the tournament-opening 34-32 loss to New Zealand but was instrumental in a dominant attacking performance from the French in the second half.“Really proud of the team,” Ntamack said through a translator. “Very tough first half. Second half, we kept pushing and it paid off. Really happy with the second half.”Australia also surrendered a 12-point lead against Ireland last week before losing 33-31 in Sydney.“We were very happy going into halftime. Put ourselves in a great position … (but) France put on 30 unanswered points. It’s not good enough,” Australia captain Harry Wilson said in a post-match TV interview. “We let (our supporters) down, we let ourselves down with a second half like that.“We’re gutted, we’re hurting.”France will travel to Tokyo to play Japan next week. The Wallabies will go to Perth, Western Australia, to take on Italy, which is coming off losses to Japan and New Zealand.The French led twice in the first half but trailed at the break against a Wallabies lineup that used a one-man advantage to score two tries.In an eventful first half for Emmanuel Meafou, who grew up in Australia before moving to France to pursue a professional contract, he scored the opening try in the third minute and also received the yellow card and spent 10 minutes on the sidelines.Australia responded six minutes later following a trick lineout move involving hooker Brandon Paenga-Amosa throwing to scrumhalf Ryan Lonergan at the front, getting the return pass and starting the movement that finished with him scorin …
