So, maybe the reports of the Wallabies’ resurrection have been a little exaggerated?
Yes … but only a little!
It is true: the dreams of a grand slam are gone, and the Scottish victory over the Wallabies by 27-13 at Murrayfield on a cold Sunday afternoon was a little on the dispiriting side of things.
Against that, this third Test of Australia’s spring tour was still a great match; and the Wallabies proved themselves more than competitive against a seriously strong Scottish team playing at home. And if the sons of the Southern Cross didn’t quite get the biscuits, they still showed enough for hope to spring eternal for next year’s series against the British and Irish Lions.
In the first quarter of the match, our blokes were constantly threatening the Scottish line with death-defying charges in the forwards and great ball movement in the backs – all with the spirit of eschewing easy penalties to go for tries instead.
And it might have worked, only for each thrust to be thwarted time and again by the tiniest of knock-ons, the most frustrating and most obscure of penalties and – most particularly – a Scottish defence that bent without breaking.
Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii attacks the Scottish line.Credit: Getty Images
For the Wallabies, Will Skelton was like a bulldozer in the middle of the pack, while, in the back line, Joseph Suaalii showed glimpses of the magic we saw from him against England – before, alas, going off in the first half with what is likely a fractured wrist.
Though the Wallabies held on to a 3-0 lead for much of the first quarter, it was the Australian-born Scottish captain and centre Sione Tuipulotu who gathered in a clever long line-out throw to jig and jag a perfectly bisecting line between Wallabies defenders to go over and give the home-side a 7-3 lead.
Still those Wallaby supporters in the stands – scattered gold flotsam in an otherwise solid sea of blue – had reason to believe. After all, hadn’t we hauled England back a dozen or so times whenever they had taken the lead, including, finally, in the 84th minute?
Surely, we could that to the Scots, particularly as our backline always looked right on the point of breaking free, we are only down 7-3 at the break and …
Too hot to handle: Duhan van der Merwe.Credit: Getty Images
And, oh dear.
Early in the second half the huge Scottish winger Duhan van der Merwe went over in the corner for what was his 30th international try, and the first of what would be three Scottish tries for the second half in a cavalier cavalcade.
With five minutes to go and down 27-6, Australia needed some magic to even have a sniff of a chance to snatch victory. Who better to provide that magic than – I know I have to say this, and you know I have to say this – Harry Potter? Making his debut for Australia on the wing, Potter gathered in a Tate McDermott grubber and tried to get it down as both the defence and the dead-ball line closed fast.
Wonderfully, despite looking like an octopus dropped from the fourth floor, 10 slo-mo replays of his effort revealed that one of his tentacles did in fact get it down, with at least two centimetres and one suction cup to spare. Ben Donaldson’s conversion nudged the score to its final resting place and it was, shortly thereafter, game over.
Harry Potter grounds the ball – just – for a Wallabies try.Credit: Getty Images
“I’m stoked,” said the Scottish captain Tuipulotu afterwards in the broadest of Australian accents – not surprising as he was born and bred in Melbourne, and ended up skippering Scotland by way of the Rebels, Japan, and a Scottish grandmother who was flown from Australia to help present to him the winning trophy.
Listen, Sione. That thing, where we told you to get nicked, that Australian rugby had no spot for you, and you may as well ply your wares else-ware? We might have been a little hasty. No hard feelings, mate.
In the meantime, I repeat: though it was a loss, the Wallabies still showed what they are capable of, just how much they have improved, and the quality players emerging that Joe Schmidt has to work with for the final Test against Ireland next week.
Alas, that line-up won’t include two of our most penetrating players, as “His Name Is Su” will be on the injured list, and Skelton’s three-week window to international rugby will have fermée to see him back playing French club rugby with La Rochelle.
But, we’ll cope. Nothing erases the first two great victories, and though a fourth is unlikely, it is possible as this wonderful tour – still a hard-carried cross between a resurrection and a renaissance – goes on.
Can’t wait.
