FRENCH rookie Alexis Palisson has revealed that being embroiled in the "pants down" affair that ignited a potentially explosive head-to-head with Wallabies winger Lote Tuqiri motivated him for his Test debut on Saturday night - even if their clash was short-lived.

Palisson, who yesterday flew to Brisbane with his teammates for the second Test on Saturday, has been dubbed a revelation by the French media. The acclaim was not just for Palisson's first game, but also the way he handled the spotlight while preparing to play in his first Test. Palisson stepped out and around the Wallabies flyer in the fifth minute and scored France's only try in the 66th minute.

Before the game, Palisson said Tuqiri - who hobbled off the field at the 29th minute with a knee injury - had several weaknesses he hoped to expose, pointing to his lack of attention around the ruck area and susceptibility to kicks behind him.

The 75-kilogram 20-year-old also said he was not concerned about conceding 28kg in weight, 16 centimetres in height and 60 Test caps in experience.

"You simply avoid taking him face on," Palisson told the French media covering the tour.

However, sparking as much interest was the headline in the Herald that first reported Palisson's declarations to the French media - a figurative phrase on his intent to expose Tuqiri that read: "I'm going to pull down Tuqiri's pants, says Alexis the Gaul."

The French, it seems, took the headline literally, including Palisson, who said after their 34-13 loss: "This story with Tuqiri motivated me more because I never said such a thing."

But then … maybe they did get it? French coach Marc Lievremont indicated as much.

"It was never a question of Alexis pulling down Tuqiri's pants … even if he did with his first touch of the ball," Lievremont was quoted as saying in the French sports newspaper L'Equipe, referring to Palisson's fifth-minute dash around Tuqiri with the ball in hand.

To his credit, Palisson did enjoy a strong debut and deserved the praise that came his way. He was active throughout the game in support play and dangerous whenever he touched the ball. His 66th-minute try was superb, when he grounded the ball near the goalposts after twisting himself under a Stirling Mortlock tackle, which logic said should have stopped him. The try brought plenty of joy to Palisson and his teammates, who ran to congratulate him.

"It was me who scored it, but it could have been someone else. It was more about a collective satisfaction than an individual one," the Brive club speedster said of his first Test five-pointer off a nice inside pass from French outside-centre Francois Trinh-Duc.

The Test loss - and the score - pained Lievremont, who said: "Apart from the level of panache and courage, we were not really in game. From the 50th minute, it was over."

But the emergence of Palisson as a star of the future was one of the heartening outcomes to come from the game. He was one of two players Lievremont praised for their individual performances, the other being No.7 Imanol Harinordoquy.

The French were not spared injuries though, with fullback Pepito Elhorga (right shoulder) and loose-head prop Lionel Faure (knee) ruled out of the second Test at Suncorp Stadium.