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Coach Ewen McKenzie took 73 minutes to correct his monumental selection blunder for the Wallabies to snatch a 24-23 last-ditch win over the Boks at Patersons Stadium in Perth last night.
That’s when McKenzie took Kurtley Beale off the bench to replace Matt Toomua, with the Boks leading 23-17 and looking home and hosed.
Beale immediately injected life into a lifeless Wallaby backline, with the exception of Israel Folau, and did everything in his power to make things happen.
But he was the Lone Ranger. But once Beale appeared, suddenly pivots Nick Phipps and Bernard Foley had a spring in their steps, as did Tevita Kuridrani, Adam Ashley-Cooper, and Rob Horne.
Folau had a grin from ear to ear. His play-maker was back in his rightful spot.
Three times Beale handled in general play before he held back a pass to centre partner Kuridrani that won the game.
With three minutes left on the clock, in order, Foley, Beale, Kuridrani and Folau swept the ball along the backline to send Horne tearing for the corner.
Boks 23-22. With 90 seconds left, Foley calmly threaded the conversion between the posts, just as he did in the Super Rugby final, but last night was a whole lot closer. Wallabies 24-23.
One thing for sure, Beale won’t be wearing jumper 23 anymore, 12 is his number as he proved so conclusively for the Waratahs to claim their first Super title in 19 years.
But last night was a win the Wallabies didn’t deserve. The Boks were the better side, aided and abetted by a litany of mindless penalties given away by the Wallabies throughout the game.
But who cares, any Wallaby win is gratefully accepted, ugly or not.
Had the Wallabies been switched on, they would have added two more tries.
Late in the first half, with the Boks leading 14-11, Toomua grubber kicked for Ashley-Cooper. The bounce was perfect as Ashley-Cooper dived over the line, but of all people, he knocked on with a try right underneath him.
He can’t and won’t pass the ball, but he has the safest of hands, and that’s why it was such a shock when he spilled the simple chance.
The second ‘try’ was ‘scored’ by replacement prop Pek Cowan late in the second half, which would have been his first in international rugby.
But Irish referee George Clancy had pegged Wallaby lock Rob Simmons taking out a defender, and the try was disallowed with the Boks leading 23-14.
Amazingly, Simmons avoided a yellow card. Bok winger Bryan Habana wasn’t as fortunate, copping an unfair yellow for an alleged high tackle on Ashley-Cooper.
It was hardly the way for Habana to celebrate his 100th Test cap.
But Simmonds’ rubbish rugby was endemic as teammates kept giving away stupid penalties in the line-out, scrums, rucks and mauls to keep trigger-happy Clancy working overtime, and keep a smile on South African faces.
On the brighter side, the Wallaby replacements were positive. Cowan did a great job replacing the injured James Slipper.
Former skipper James Horwill, replacing Sam Carter, gave away a penalty at his first play, but after that settled into making his mark, as did Scott Higginbotham, replacing Wycliff Palu.
That was a change for the better, Higginbotham is normally a real liability as a loose cannon.
But the success story of the night was Kurtley Beale. Better late than never, coach.