Australian rugby has had precious few weeks like this in recent times, as it basks in the glory of arguably the Wallabies’ greatest ever triumph at Twickenham and the christening of a new star who is nudging Donald Trump’s headline count.
From talkback radio to podcasts, frontpages to back and nightly news segments that have repeatedly flashed the beaming smiles from Twickenham, the praise has come thick and fast for Joe Schmidt’s team.
And rightly so, given the context of the victory, the style of play that secured the drought-breaking result and, of course, its incredible “green and gold conclusion”, as brilliantly described by TNT commentator Nick Mullins.
The match-winning try scored by Max Jorgensen was a work of art, as the various broadcast angles have shown this week.
But not 90 minutes after the final whistle, after Harry Wilson had hoisted the Ella-Mobbs Cup and Lukhan Salakaia-Loto had squared his team’s verbal ledger with Ben Youngs, Schmidt issued a timely reminder to his Australian group; that one win doesn’t make a spring, nor does it even come close to securing a grand slam.
Had the Wallabies turned the corner? No, Schmidt said, but they might be in the process of rounding it.
The typically measured Kiwi then narrowed Australia’s focus.
“We try to build our boring and be really good at those things,” Schmidt said when asked about his team’s growth in some the game’s less glamorous aspects.
“England, they’re so combative [in tight], that’s hard work; at the same time, I thought the boys really rolled their sleeves up.”
Roll their sleeves up, Australia did. And that determination was just as responsible for the victory as the daring counter attack, Angus Bell’s game-changing carries or any of Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii’s restart wins or offloads, not to downplay the 21-year-old’s logic-defying debut.
This was a collective Wallabies performance seldom seen since the glory years.
Schmidt is right to drive the highest of standards for the “boring” bits – and they don’t come any more boring than maul defence, despite what grizzled old forwards might tell you about the beauty of the set-piece drive.
Back in July, Wales, who Australia face next in the United Kingdom early Monday morning [AEDT], arrived Down Under with little else but a rolling maul, but a very good one at that.
Captain Dawi Lake scored twice from the set-piece in Melbourne, while a week earlier Wales were awarded a penalty try and had another five-pointer scrubbed off because of obstruction – the Wallabies had few answers to the organised red maul rampaging towards them.
And while Warren Gatland’s side have added a few key attacking reinforcements this November, you can guarantee they will see an opportunity to again expose the Australians up front.
And so the Wallabies must make the boring beautiful, something the likely selection of Will Skelton can assist with.
That starts by repeating their good disciplinary record from London — they conceded eight penalties to England’s six – which is the easiest way for teams to piggyback their way upfield and win the territory battle.
But it is inevitable they will be pinged at various stages by referee James Doleman and should Wales look to the touchline rather than the posts, then Australia’s maul defence will have to be a whole lot better than it was in July and the Tests that followed against South Africa.
If they can halt the Welsh drive, then Australia have vastly more attacking quality at their disposal than their hosts, headed by Suaalii –who ESPN understands will come off the bench in Cardiff — and the man who ensured Australia avoided a first-up loss under Schmidt in July: Tom Wright.
Wright’s 60-metre special in Sydney was only bettered by the fullback’s efforts in London last weekend, as he finished off a spectacular offload from Suaalii and set about opening up a fractured English defence repeatedly on the counter.
Wales will be all too aware of Wright’s threats, though the hosts have far more going on in their own backyard to be overly consumed by what the Australians might or might not do.
Gatland’s team are winless in 2024 and have lost 10 straight Test matches; the union itself is in crisis and the coach’s future is firmly under the microscope. If ever there was to be a backs-to-the-wall win, Sunday night’s Test is seemingly tailor-made for it.
So while Australia are riding high after their Twickenham triumph, backing that result up – this time when they are expected to do so – is the boring result the Wallabies need, and Australian rugby so desperately craves.
“The group in general has a feeling that repeatability is the biggest thing for us to move forward,” Wallabies scrum-half Tate McDermott said. “It’s about making sure that everything we do this week, we don’t waste any time improving. Because repeatability and backing up the performance against the English is crucial for us.
“Last week against the English, whilst it was a great moment, it’s irrelevant because we’ve got a fierce Welsh team in our face, and we’ve got to make sure we’re ready for them.”
