Wallabies fans have been led up the garden path by Rugby Australia. Accountability must come next

Wallabies fans have been led up the garden path by Rugby Australia. Accountability must come next

1. Wallabies fans have been led up the garden path

Wallabies supporters don’t have the luxury of an exit clause. They don’t get to activate a parachute when things don’t go to their liking. They commit to the national side emotionally – for better or worse – and oftentimes financially.

The revelations that Rugby Australia allowed Eddie Jones to have exit clauses in his contract from the get-go are therefore another slap in the face for supporters.

All year they had been exhorted to get behind Jones, with the patriotism card used liberally by Rugby Australia, and all the time they knew that he had a way out if certain conditions were not met. Jones is finished, but his replacement can’t be picked by the same people who did the Jones deal.

2. Springboks are worthy world champions

There is no better tournament team than South Africa. Already without Malcolm Marx, they lost hooker Bongi Mbonambi to a clumsy Shannon Frizell cleanout after two minutes of the final, and that blow should have been terminal for their chances. It depowered their scrum and caused major disruption to their lineout, taking away two of the pillars of their game.

South Africa’s Trevor Nyakane, left, and Mbongeni Mbonambi celebrate.Credit: AP

Yet, inspired by a mammoth defensive performance, they won more of the big moments against an All Blacks side that had their chances and didn’t take them. Sam Cane’s red card was the right decision, as was the call not to upgrade Siya Kolisi’s yellow.

The Springboks haven’t even been well selected in the past two weeks – Rassie Erasmus and Jacques Nienaber made a number of poor calls – but their player pool is so deep, and stacked with leaders, that it did not cost them. They’re the world’s best.

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3. Wallaroos go wallop in Dunedin

The Springboks have a deep sense of purpose, and Australia’s women also played that way against France in Dunedin on Saturday. Forget France’s late tries to close the final scoreline to 29-20, the Wallaroos dished out a comprehensive lesson to the French. The difference between the two sides was clear in the commitment to the contact zones.

Prop Eva Karpani won the plaudits with her three tries, but the Wallaroos’ loose-forward trio was also outstanding.

Their next opponents, Wales, will be stinging after a 70-7 defeat to the Black Ferns on Saturday, so another win next week is no guarantee. However, that win again showed the Wallaroos’ World Cup-winning potential if they can get the right backing.

4. Did the All Blacks err with their bench?

Hindsight is a wonderful thing, but a mere five minutes off the bench for Damian McKenzie looked like a poor use of that resource.

In his limited time on the field, McKenzie was clearly troubling the Springboks in a way that neither Richie Mo’unga nor Beauden Barrett looked capable of.

McKenzie has been in career-best form this season, and it must have pained him to watch the All Blacks fail to use the 60 per cent of possession they held for the game.

5. Pieter-Steph du Toit was my player of the Rugby World Cup

The big Springboks flanker was the man of the match against the All Blacks in the final, but really he’s been exceptional for the past three weeks.

As the form and energy levels of some of the other big guns in their pack waxed and waned against France, England and New Zealand, du Toit was the rock they needed.

Incredibly, he might have even iced the game in the final stage had it not been for an excellent tackle by Scott Barrett, and he has hit the same heights as 2019 – when he was named World Rugby player of the year.

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