When the anger dissipates – in a decade or so for Wallabies fans – after la grande injustice of the loss to the All Blacks on Thursday, the Wallabies coaches will have the complex job of taking some lessons out of it.
That’s not easy. Referee Mathieu Raynal’s late intervention complicated matters. An extraordinary, character-filled win was turned into a loss – yet another loss – against an All Blacks team that is clearly average.
But let’s get the decision out of the way first. Was Raynal right to penalise Bernard Foley for time-wasting? That in itself is the wrong question. In my view, Raynal mismanaged the entire situation, and horribly so.
He manufactured an absurd mini power struggle between himself and Foley, and so when it came to the crunch of course he wanted to be king. It was an exercise in power, not justice. Now rugby fans will be required to bring stopwatches to games, to make sure all penalties are taken within the Foley limit. Is that where we are heading?
So, the Wallabies can then claim a moral victory, can’t they? No. Not after Darcy Swain’s reckless act on All Blacks midfielder Quinn Tupaea. Yes, the Test was played in Melbourne but Swain did not need to go into Nelson Asofa-Solomona territory. The big Storm prop has a tendency to use his not inconsiderable mass against opponents already in a vulnerable position. Swain did likewise.
Swain could do with a spell, either at the hands of a citing officer or a firm coach. In the meantime he should hope that Tupaea has not done an ACL.
Power struggle: Referee Mathieu Raynal speaks to Nic White and Bernard Foley.Credit:Getty
But if that represented the low point for the Wallabies – who remain woefully ill disciplined – then the high point was the performance of the loose forwards. It’s not facetious to say that Pete Samu outshone three opponents – All Blacks No.7s Sam Cane and Dalton Papalii and also No.8 Hoskins Sotutu. That was the power of Samu’s performance, which also showed he could start at No.7 and then move to No.8 later on to accommodate Fraser McReight.
We talked at the start about taking lessons from the Test: this was a big one.
It was hard to decide which of Samu and Rob Valetini was the best player on the pitch. It was clearly a two-horse race, with no All Black matching their output. Without Ardie Savea in the All Blacks, Valetini was dominant. The Wallabies’ starting back row was feted for being the product of Melbourne, but it also reminded me a touch of the Hurricanes’ Collins-Masoe-So’ioalo trio. It has a lot of promise.
The Wallabies will also feel that they stood up to the All Blacks’ plan to bully them at scrum time. With big, aggressive newcomers in hooker Samisoni Taukei’aho and loosehead Ethan de Groot, the All Blacks spied an opportunity at scrum time. But, after some early issues, the Wallabies fought back.
Darcy Swain is shown a yellow card for a dangerous tackle on Quinn Tupaea.Credit:Getty
Therefore, the Wallabies should take a crumb of consolation from the defeat. Considering their injury woes, they look by far the more capable team to find the extra 10-20 per cent both sides will need at next year’s Rugby World Cup to be regarded as serious contenders.
Disconsolate Wallabies fans should also take note that when the coverage on Kiwi TV returned to the studio, former All Blacks Jeff Wilson, Kieran Read and Justin Marshall were not doing cartwheels about the quality of their side.
Sure, they found reasons to celebrate, but guided by the harder line brought by dual code legend and fellow panellist Honey Hireme-Smiler, they then wondered about attributes such as leadership, composure and decision-making within the All Blacks.
Similar charges could be laid at the feet of the Wallabies. But there was something stirring about the last quarter, when they looked like the only team capable of grabbing the Test by the scruff of the neck when it mattered.
It was also a performance from a Wallabies 23 that was arguably seven or eight players shy of their best outfit. The Wallabies now slip to No.9 in the world while the All Blacks shift up one place to No.3. At least one of those rankings looks wildly off. That is the lesson they should take from Melbourne.
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