For the Wallabies and their fans, it's a case of Groundhog Day once more as the side took a significant lead into the break, only to fall short in the second and watch a win slip away. This time though, it was a capitulation of worrying proportions.
Wallabies coach Joe Schmidt labelled it "soul-destroying". From a 21-12 lead at half time, the side would score just five points in the second as they conceded 30-straight to the French to fall 26-42. Three tries within 10 minutes. Their sixth straight loss. Nine losses within 10. Yep, soul destroying just about covers it.
"I think I would probably say something that was representative of the whole team in terms of us being gutted, another good first half, but we have to be able to go out and deliver a second half that's as worthy as the first 40 minutes," Schmidt said post-match.
"I just felt that a kicking game wasn't as accurate as it needed to be.
"In the wash up, we just know we have to get a win next week. It's as simple as that."
The warning signs were there early as the Wallabies once again got off to a slow start, allowing France to run in two tries in quick succession to open the match. While the Wallabies got one of their own through a Brandon Paenga-Amosa score in the 10th minute, it was clear the French combination of Romain Ntamack at No. 10 and Matthieu Jalibert at fullback would be a handful for the Wallabies to contain. Add gold medal-winning winger Aaron Grandidier-Nkanang and scrumhalf Maxime Lucu and Australia were in for a long night.
Thankfully for the Wallabies, Emmanuel Meafou would go from hero scoring the side's opening try, to villain just minutes later, receiving a yellow card in the 24th minute for a high tackle giving Australia breathing room.
Fraser McReight made the most of the 10-minute one-man advantage in one of the few standout performances for the Wallabies, burrowing his way over the line twice in quick succession in a period that saw the Wallabies show flashes of their potent attack. Meanwhile, Tom Wright appeared to be back to his superb best, kicking two sublime 50/22s to put his side in perfect attacking positions in a strong first half display.
But as it was, the impressive 20-minute period seemingly papered over the cracks of the real issues.
Tested under the high ball, the Wallabies were found wanting once again. Dylan Pietsch, Max Jorgensen, and Wright struggling to impose themselves in the air as Ntamack and Jalibert happily sent the ball high for France to regather. Their discipline, while not as poor as last week finishing with five penalties for the night, saw momentum swing towards the French, with Jorgensen's dangerous tackle penalty early in the second half seemingly the catalyst to the side's sorry capitulation.
Six minutes into the second half, as the Wallabies finally looked to enjoy some possession following the break, they lost an attacking penalty in France's half as the TMO intervened, deeming Jorgensen's tackle from minutes earlier on the halfway line, which saw him lift and then drive his opponent shoulder first into the pitch, as dangerous. Lucu was quick to point to the sticks, slot the three and turn back for the kickoff.
From there things spiraled.
While the Wallabies' defence had held its own in the first half, it splintered, cracked and burst wide open in the second. First Ryan Lonergan, then Declan Meredith, and Josh Canham slid off tackles as France exposed the soft shoulders. By fulltime Stan Sport stats showed the group had missed 31 tackles, most in the second half.
Ntamack and Jalibert sent the ball from left to right and back again, while their forward pack rumbled over tacklers. The Wallabies' defence was spread thin and gaps appeared everywhere as they struggled to keep up with the pace and power of France's attacking masterclass.
After scoring a solid try in the corner in the first half, wrong footing Meredith to pounce on a grubber over the line, Grandidier-Nkanang went over for his second in the 50th minute, connecting once more onto a Jalibert kick into the left corner. It closed the gap to just one-point and saw Wright yellow carded for failing to roll away as he desperately attempted to slow France's attack on the line.
France quickly made the most of the advantage.
Just three minutes later they were in again, this time it was Ntamack brushing off James Slipper attempting to slide across in coverage before diving into the left corner. Three minutes after that Florian Verhaeghe rumbled his way over the line to make it a 19-point swing in just 10 minutes. Tres magnifique.
Another penalty to Lucu in the 63rd and a try to winger Theo Attissogbe capped off a 30-point swing in the second half as the Wallabies simply had no answer for France's incredibly dynamic attack.
"Yeah, it's hard to find positives, just because we're so desperate to win, and when you stack enough moments to put some really good play together to lead at halftime, it's just a little bit soul-destroying, to be honest," Schmidt said.
"My time's nearly finished and I just want to leave the house in good order and I know these players are trying really hard to keep building on what they have done in these last two weeks.
"It's hard at the moment to probably rationalise the positives and I know there were some, because you can't lead a French team 21-12 at halftime and not have some real positives.
"But you can't then concede four second half tries."
Once again Wallabies captain Harry Wilson had to face the reality that his team held a win in their hands only to let it slip, after burning several first half attacking opportunities before they were simply outplayed in the second.
"They had some really good kick pressure, they put the ball up, they got it back, they spread it wide," Wilson said post-game. "Obviously once we got the yellow card they really made us pay there, it was a very disappointing second half there.
"We put ourselves in a really good position that first half, and there was plenty of confidence at halftime that we could go out there and do a job in the second half. I'm sort of trying to put it together in my head."
As the Joe Schmidt era comes to a close next weekend, this latest loss sees his win percentage drop to just 36.6%, the worst of any Wallabies coach in the professional era, and it's also brought his legacy in Australia starkly into focus. Another loss next week and people will be questioning if there's truly been a turnaround at the Wallabies at all.