A missed French drop-goal in the 83rd minute was all that separated Australia and Les Bleus in an enthralling three tries apiece contest that went right until the very end.

This match was supposed to be more about experimentation than anything else but Australia's doggedness in defence and ability to - like they did last week - fight until the death shows they may have what it takes mentally to complete an elusive grand slam.

It was Australia's third straight win of their Europe trip and most importantly it will build momentum heading into the key Ireland clash next Saturday in Dublin.

"It was very pleasing," said coach Michael Cheika of the win. "We've been working really hard with a new group of players and that's all I wanted them to do tonight. I was just really proud of the effort. We made some mistakes as well but I feel like there was a lot of commitment there from our lads."

With Australia leading by four points midway through the second half, outside-centre Tevita Kuridrani gave the Wallabies a handy buffer with an aerobatic, diving five-pointer in the corner – his third in as many matches on this tour.

France hit back shortly after but an outstanding defensive effort from the Wallabies helped them keep their noses in front.

After a one-point thriller against Scotland last week, Australia can, to a certain extent, consider themselves lucky given their front-rowers were well and truly exposed at scrum-time.

They lost all three of their scrum feeds and the last mistake in the 79th minute gave France a perfect opportunity to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat.

Nonetheless, a win is a win and it showed the Wallabies' depth problem might not be as deep-seated as some people think as a number of rookies stepped up when the going got tough.

So much had been made of Cheika's decision to rest a number of his stars for this match.

The French saw it somewhat as a mark of disrespect and responded in the best possible fashion with the opening points of the evening – a penalty – in the sixth minute.

France then upped the ante with a try to Virimi Vakatawa, who waltzed straight past Tolu Latu to help extend the hosts' lead to eight points within the opening 20 minutes.

But in the blink of an eye the Wallabies regained the ascendancy; firstly through a Foley penalty, before being rewarded with a penalty try off the back of a driving maul near the French line.

France's blindside breakaway Charles Ollivon was shown a yellow card and during his ten minutes in the bin Australia had plenty of front-foot ball but were unable to capitalise on a mountain of possession.

Luke Morahan looked assured at fullback, however debutant inside-centre Kyle Godwin appeared to be a little nervous and hesitant at times.

Winger Sefa Naivalu came into a ruck as hard as Will Skelton did last week against Scotland but not as recklessly in the eyes of referee Glen Jackson who let him stay out on the park.

It was Naivalu's first start for his country and after a long wait to finally become eligible, he made up for lost time with consistent hard runs and a number of crucial tackles on the right edge.

The Melbourne Rebels speedster almost scored in the 49th minute but was tackled from behind which subsequently prevented him from taking the ball cleanly.

"There's been hardly any completion… this needs to change," referee Jackson barked at Australia's front-rowers James Slipper, Latu and Allan Alaalatoa just before half-time.

Moments later Australia conceded its ninth penalty of the evening – they only gave up two in the second half – to give French halfback Maxime Machenaud an easy three points to take the score to 13-11 at the main break.

Despite what the scoreline suggested, Australia's depth on the pine should have been enough to keep them in front during the second block of 40 minutes.

They didn't even have to wait for the injection of some of their stars as Foley, on the back of some impressive carries from Australia's big men after a possible Cheika half-time spray, sliced through a paper-thin French defence to score his 11th try from 40 outings in a gold jersey.

Foley, who was called into the starting side at the 11th hour because of an ankle injury to Quade Cooper, was once again pivotal in orchestrating traffic and helping the Wallabies notch up win six from 13 attempts this year.

FRANCE 23 (Virimi Vakatawa, Jean-Marc Doussain, Wesley Fofana tries; Maxime Machenaud 1 conversion; Machenaud 1 penalty) defeated by AUSTRALIA 25 (Penalty try, Bernard Foley, Tevita Kuridrani tries; Bernard Foley 2 conversions; Foley 2 penalties) at Stade de France, Paris.