“That was a wild game,” Wallabies captain Michael Hooper said after his side’s terrific 24-22 victory over the All Blacks at Lang Park on Saturday night.
Wild barely covers it.
A night that had been billed as one of the biggest Tests in Australia’s recent history — following the disappointment of last Saturday night’s 43-5 defeat in Sydney — ended with Rennie beaming on the pitch, as he celebrated his first win as Wallabies coach over the land of his birth.
Australia’s rugby-supporting public had demanded a response from the Wallabies after last weekend’s performance — and boy, did they get one.
Perhaps we should have expected it.
The Wallabies have won their last seven Tests at Lang Park and lost just one of their past five against the All Blacks in Brisbane. The Test they lost, back in 2014, was only by a point.
There is something different about the Wallabies in Brisbane and they lived up to that billing in front of a big, vocal crowd.
The four changes made by Rennie to his matchday squad were designed to toughen up the Wallabies defence and rectify its colander-esque display in Sydney a week ago, while also addressing their shockingly poor ball retention. And those changes paid off.
The Wallabies were far more secure in possession, choosing to keep the ball in hand and probe the All Blacks’ line with ball carriers, rather than kick it in behind and invite their opponents to run it back.
Straight from the kick-off, an increased solidity on both sides of the ball was apparent, when Anton Lienert-Brown came out of the All Blacks’ defensive line to meet a deep-sitting Jordan Petaia.
Lienert-Brown was summarily dismissed, a monstrous collision leaving the All Blacks centre sitting on his backside as Petaia shrugged his way past.
The Wallabies showed a more intelligent use of the ball, with the opening try giving debutant Tom Wright a dream start to his Test career after just three minutes.
It came by way of a deft chip kick over the top from Reece Hodge, a man playing his first Test at five-eighth since 2017 but who marshalled the Wallabies’ backline superbly.
Despite Hodge’s recent inexperience in the role, he and his teammates kicked when the situation presented itself, not just when under pressure from the swarming All Blacks defence.
Sure, the All Blacks then did what they do best after conceding early; hogging the ball, starving the Wallabies of possession and creating openings through the axis of the Barrett brothers at five-eighth and fullback, with Beauden and Jordie both testing the Wallabies line regularly.
In consecutive plays, Beauden Barrett took the ball to the line and scythed through an infinitesimally small gap, then younger brother Jordie absorbed a walloping hit from two Wallabies defenders, yet stood tall to serve a little pass out behind him, which led to the All Blacks levelling through Rieko Ioane.
In the opening quarter of the game, the All Blacks enjoyed 68 per cent possession and 69 per cent territory. Yet the Wallabies led 8-5.
Red cards warranted
The two red cards introduced the degree of chaos into the contest that would make this a classic — both of which were entirely justified decisions from referee Nic Berry.
Berry’s playing career was curtailed by a series of concussion issues, so the sight of Ofa Tu’ungafasi’s shoulder slamming into the chin of Wright would have made the decision to send him off easy.
It was a hit that had the majority of the crowd at Lang Park roaring in approval rather than baying for blood, but was also the sort of hit that can cause serious damage, and referees are right to call it out.
With that in mind, the subsequent decision to turn Lachie Swinton’s Wallabies debut into a nightmare was also more than justified when he collected Sam Whitelock high.
On Fox Sports, Phil Kearns said the decision to send both players off ruined the spectacle of the game — but World Rugby’s mandate to protect the head should not be criticised.
As for having a detrimental impact on the spectacle? Not in this case it didn’t.
The Wallabies grew in confidence at the game went on, turning the tables on the All Blacks by starving them of possession, patiently working the ball up the field and exerting terrific pressure at the breakdown.
The hosts enjoyed 58 per cent possession and 61 per cent territory, earned six penalties to one in the second period and tidied up their discipline — having conceded nine penalties to eight in the first 40 minutes — while making better use of the ball.
Hooper, as ever, was a huge part of the Wallabies’ endeavours in the second half. The skipper was typically damaging against the All Blacks at the breakdown and a terrific force in the loose.
But there were terrific performances all over the pitch, with young stars Wright, Harry Wilson and Hunter Paisami all starting on home soil.
Taniela Tupou also made a terrific impact off the reserves bench. His power at scrum time was immediately obvious, forcing the only scrum penalty of the game when he bent the All Blacks’ front row to the delight of his teammates.
In the loose too, Tupou’s impact was felt. His charging runs close to the ruck proved near-impossible to stop, as illustrated when he burrowed over for what turned out to be the match-winning try.
Loading
Even Noah Lolesio was able to exorcise the demons of his patchy debut last week with an assured 15-minute cameo, fittingly kicking the ball out and screaming with delight in what must have been a cathartic experience.
Sure, the chaotic nature of a game featuring a red card apiece could make any gains earned from this contest seem irrelevant in the grand scheme of things, but the restorative power of a win like that cannot be underestimated.
It might not have been tidy, but sometimes you just have to revel in the chaos.
