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Opinion: Where the hell do you start with that one? The Wallabies’ 24-22 victory last night over the All Blacks, their first in three years, yielded so many talking points that it’s almost impossible to fit them into one column, but we’ll try. Jamie Wall writes.
Photo: PhotoSport
First of all, it’s important to recognize that the Wallabies definitely deserved to win this game, red card or not. Dave Rennie could have crawled into his shell and looked forward to next season, but instead he came up with a decent game plan and instilled the confidence in his team to carry it out. He bit the bullet in his failed experiment with Noah Lolesio at age 10 in last weekend’s Sydney skit, replacing him with the more experienced Reece Hodge, who went blind to score 14 points off the tee. They scored in the first two minutes and looked good to get on with the job before the madness happened.
Now, there will be a lot of talk about the practice of red cards in rugby, as always in a high-level match. But it’s safe to say that the guy who put his hand in his pocket, referee Nic Berry, shouldn’t be blamed.
The Wallaby players celebrate their victory.
Photo: PhotoSport
The Australian whistleblower had rules he had to follow and did exactly what they said when he gave Ofa Tu’ungafasi and Lachie Swinton an early shower. Save the “common sense” talk for World Rugby legislators.
But this was a tale of two reds. Tu’ungafasi was very unlucky as Tom Wright slid down to finally eat the shoulder of the great pillar, yet he was still in direct contact with the head. Swinton’s, on the other hand, was a deliberate act of foul play that targeted Samuel Whitelock.
You almost have to admire Swinton’s impudence in trying to smash the 119-proof All Black out of the game, who was on debut making the act of violence even more noticeable. Physicality is something the Wallabies were severely lacking last weekend and at Eden Park, so at least Swinton came out doing what he was supposed to do, albeit in a much more enthusiastic way than he probably should have. .
Red card for Swinton.#AUSvNZL pic.twitter.com/uV9oRdGsNb
– Steve Lenthall (@ steve_l15) November 7, 2020
Then there was Marika Koroibete’s performance, which was electric with the ball in hand and devastating on defense, saving a safe attempt in the corner with a perfect tackle on Sevu Reece. But even he found it within himself to confuse everyone who was watching by being unnecessarily sent to the container of sins for a professional fault.
That turned into an opportunity for the former league star to just cool his heels though, as the Wallabies did quite well in the 10-minute span, even regaining the lead on a Hodge penalty.
Scott Barrett, meanwhile, did his reputation no favors with a very ill-thought-out attempt to cheat in the second half. When he went to waste and reduced the All Blacks to 13 at home to the Queensland rugby league, that effectively sealed his team’s fate. From there, the game was in the hands of the Wallabies and they never gave up.
Richie Mo’unga in possession.
Photo: PhotoSport
Brisbane now presents itself as a tough place for the All Blacks, which makes little sense given that the amount of support they receive from the number of New Zealanders now residing there can make it seem like additional home test. That won’t worry the Wallabies, though, who may be asking their bosses to schedule more tryouts at Suncorp Stadium.
Then of course there was Taniela Tupou chewing gum during the haka, which was shaping up to be an epic test debut for Akira Ioane that was interrupted by Tu’ungafasi’s red, three more test debuts that produced nothing but the elimination of Will Jordan. , the obvious gulf between Aaron Smith and everyone else trying to be the All Blacks running back, Rieko Ioane keeps scoring, he tries the ‘cool’ way because why the hell not? and Ian Foster now has to spend his first week being an All Black stray head. coach.
What an ending for Rieko!
: @skysportnz #AUSvNZL pic.twitter.com/5rKDXK2tnp
– All blacks (@AllBlacks) November 7, 2020
So yes, there is a lot to talk about. Maybe I should write more than one of these a week …
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