STRASBOURG (FIBA Basketball World Cup) - France will enter the FIBA Basketball World Cup in Spain on the back of a resounding 73-50 triumph over Australia.

Les Bleus set the tone early with their defense and marched to a convincing win in Strasbourg.

Rudy Gobert, who is making his senior team bow this summer, had four of France’s eight blocks.

If they can make life difficult for opponents in the half-court, France should be able to win a lot of games at the World Cup.

"Their rim protection saw us get a little shy and we started to go away from the basket, settling for fade-aways and short jumpers, which isn't going to get it done at this level," said Australia's assistant coach Luc Longley.

The overall performance is exactly what France needed before Saturday's World Cup Group A opener against Brazil in Granada.

"This was the kind of game we wanted since the beginning of the preparations," said France captain Boris Diaw.

"It does not mean that everything is perfect. There are still things we can improve.

"But we were better mentally than the day before against Finland. Things clicked from a mental standpoint."

France had won against the Finns but only by a slender 74-69 margin.

Finland came up with 13 steals and France turned the ball over 19 times.

Les Bleus were a different team against the Australians.

"We never let up in terms of defensive intensity," said France coach Vincent Collet.

"The Australians struggled to find solutions as the their 50 points shows."

Collet says France can take heart from the outcome but must not be lulled into a false sense of security.

"We have to forget the result," he warned.

"We start the World Cup against Brazil and they are even stronger than Australia."

FIBA