With Australia’s Grand Slam tour coming-up, I thought it would be fun to rank my ten favourite moments from the 1984 Grand Slam tour.
This is my favourite Australian side of all time, not just because they were a great side, but because they showed the world that running rugby can be winning rugby.
10. Stan Pilecki makes a go of it against the Barbarians
This part of the game unfolded thus: Serge Blanco kicked the ball away and some felt he was taken out a bit late. The crowd started to boo.
But while they were booing, Australia started a marvellous counter-attack. Andrew Slack had the ball and suddenly had run out of support.
He started to look around and who was there? The 37 year-old Stan Pikecki in support.
Pilecki, a prop, had made the effort to run back and support Andrew Slack. Pilecki was running for his life – which is to say he was running at about a jogging pace for a normal person. He eventually was tackled, but flipped a pass over his shoulder – not because he had a Campese sense of awareness, but because he knew somebody had to be behind him at the speed he was running.
The ball came to Slack and he then passed to Steve Williams and ‘Swill’ went over for a tremendous try.
It’s not often you get to see a prop play a role in the running game, and in a sense it was a shame Pilecki didn’t score the try. But he played an important role in it, and it was great to see such a character play a part in this try.
It was even more impressive considering the fact he seemed to be having a little bit of trouble in the scrums, with Iain Milne boring into him. Pilecki must have been stuffed when he supported Slack, but he did a fantastic job and put a smile on my face.
9. Mark Ella’s 4th try
Against Scotland Mark Ella achieved a personal grand slam of tries. In a way it was fitting because Ella had scored a try in every test against the Home Unions for the 1977/78 Schoolboys.
However, it was an interesting feat because I never associated Ella with being a try scorer during his international career. To me Mark Ella was more a player about providing opportunities to his outside backs. In his career he probably set-up 10 times more tries than he actually scored.
So it was nice that things fell his way and he scored four tries.
His try against Scotland can be attributed to support play. Gould had Campese in his outside, Ella on his inside. Ella’s opposite number (I forget who it was, Rutherford didn’t play in that game) dropped of Ella, and that was a fatal mistake.
8. Steve Cutler dominating line-outs
With the exception of the Irish game, Cutler was the king of line-outs. The man Gary Whetton once said, on his day, was quite possibly the best line-out jumper in the world.
Cutler was particularly supreme against Wales where the Welsh line-out, which contained Bob Norster, could not win much line-out ball. What line-out ball they did get was very sloppy.
As JPR Williams said afterwards the Welsh didn’t even have “enough imagination to thump someone in the line-up when the ref wasn’t looking.”
In fact, I rate the first half against Wales in 1984 as a superior first half to the much vaunted first half of the 1991 World Cup semi-final. In the 1991 semi-final the Australian forwards were phenomenal in their mobility and cohesion, but they lost a tremendous amount of line-out ball in that game.
Australia lost something to the effect of one third of line-out throws in that first half.
The first 20 minutes against Wales were flawless in every aspect. The line-outs were supreme, the scrum was powerful, the forwards were moving around the park as one. It was just a complete performance. You could argue the Welsh were inferior competition compared to the 1991 All Blacks, but I don’t think the difference is too large.
People forget Wales and Scotland (Scotland won the Five Nations in 1984) were the most highly rated Home Nation teams in 1984, and after a scrappy win against Ireland, many people were expecting the Welsh to beat the Wallabies.
7. “Mark Ella, OH WHAT MAGNIFICENT HANDS!” – Gordon Bray
Australia won some sloppy line-out ball. The ball came to Roger Gould who threw a horrific long ball that was going to land a few metres in front of Ella.
The ball swirled, and spun, and dipped, and landed around Mark Ella’s shoelaces. Ella, never ruffed under pressure, ran forward, leaned down, was completely off balance, and the ball shot through his hands and onto Campese.
More importantly, Australia scored a try off this play, when Campese passed the ball to Poidevin.
It was just a ridiculous moment of class. In addition to Mark Ella stretching the boundaries of support play like nobody else I have ever seen, I can also say I’ve never seen anybody with his hands.
I don’t think until Farr-Jones came along that Ella ever had a truly great halfback paired with him, yet it never seemed to matter.
You could pass the ball anywhere to him and the ball would go out to the centres in a flash. As he said to Nick Farr-Jones, “Whether it’s good ball or bad ball, just throw it in my direction.”
Actually while I’m on the topic of Ella’s hand, one of my favourite moments of the Grand Slam tour which I won’t include in this list, was the way Mark Ella started the Scottish Test. He looked nervous and fumbled the ball the first time it went in his direction.
The reason it’s one of my favourite moments is because the Scottish crowd let-out a gigantic gasp! There was nothing more shocking to the British crowds than Mark Ella dropping a football.
6. Anytime Simon Poidevin played the link-man
Simon Poidevin is incredibly underrated in terms of his ability to keep the ball alive. As a flanker, he played exactly the kind of role the ’84 Wallabies required, that of somebody who would support the backs anytime there was no where for them to go.
Against England Poidevin scored a try by trailing David Campese. Rory Underwood was about to bring Campo down when Poidevin showed up, ready to take the pass and scored the try.
Against Ireland Poidevin blew a try with a pretty bad mistake, but he wouldn’t have been able to be in that position without supporting Campese. Against Wales when Farr-Jones and Campese went down the blindside, Campese swerved back inside and found Poidevin.
This time Poidevin made the pass count, and he found Michael Lynagh (who scored under the sticks). In the Barbarians game the Australian’s made a midfield break after some tremendous interplay between Ella, Lynagh and Slack.
After Lynagh made the break, Poidevin was on the inside to take the pass from Lynagh and scored another try.
Poidevin was such a supreme athlete. Bob Dwyer once said he was professional long before the game went professional. Gareth Edwards once said until you saw Poidevin live you couldn’t imagine how much territory he covered in each game.
He was strong enough that he could harass the opposition at every moment during the game.
However, he could also out-sprint many of the Australian backs, and when that ball went wide Poidevin was there to keep the play going. What people don’t realise is there aren’t many flankers fast and athletic enough to do what Poidevin did in that tour, while being strong enough to be a nuisance in the rucks and mauls.
In that sense, Poidevin was the perfect balance of speed and strength. In a sense it’s a shame Mark Ella retired because I really haven’t seen Poidevin play the same role as often since Ella retired. That’s not a knock on Michael Lynagh, whom I consider one of Australia’s five best players ever.
But Australia’s style changed after Ella retired.
In some respects Simon Poidevin was Australia’s best player from the 80s. That’ll create some discussion here at The Roar, but Poidevin was so essential to the Wallabies scoring so many tries.
The thing I respect most about Simon Poidevin is that he demonstrates the importance of one per cent. I swear Poidevin tried 1 per cent harder than every other person on the rugby field. He was all fire and passion, and his competitive nature was such that his extra one per cent effort was the reason Australia won so many games.
It’s a shame people underrate him because his hands weren’t always great.
5. David Campese’s inside-out running Vs Robert Ackerman
During the Welsh game, Campese was one-on-one against Robert Ackerman. You’d pick Campese to beat Ackerman with his magic feet nine times out of 10.
Yet Ackerman brought Campese down with a tremendous tackle that sent him into touch. To add a bit of heat to the moment, Ackerman they shoved Campese’s head into the mud, which went undetected by the referee.
We all know the story after that: When Campese, Alan Jones, and Michael Lynagh, were greeted by Ackerman after the game at a Welsh hotel, Ackerman reportedly said, “I didn’t think your backs were any good today.”
A few weeks later during the Barbarians game Campese had the ball with only Ackerman in the road. For 40 to 50 metres Campese zigged and he zagged, making Ackerman look over each should as he came closer to the try line. Campese maybe overdid it a little bit, and could have beaten Ackerman without doing his final wiggle.
Campese was tackled just before the line and he got his pass of to Michael Hawker, but he certainly made his point – not with his words (probably his more preferred method), but with the feet.
4. Nick Farr-Jones’ try Vs Scotland
Audacious is the word. The best thing about this try was nobody knew what had happened until the referee raised his arm for the try. The commentators didn’t keep-up with it, nor did the crowd – they were confused. Absolutely nobody knew what had happened!
Australia had called a short line-out – a three-man line-out. Farr Jones came running across to take the pass from Lawton and with a side-step and a bit of strength Farr-Jones scored a try in the corner.
That try couldn’t have been scored by many players of the time as Farr-Jones was bigger and more robust than most halfbacks of the time, and this enabled him to power over the line.
The try is a great example of the free-spirited manner in which the Grand Slam Wallabies played the game.
3. Campese’s second try Vs Scotland
This try was awarded the try of the series. Scotland were counter-attacking when Peter Grigg intercepted the ball while running backwards!
With no where to go he passed the ball to Mark Ella, who once again found his kindred spirit in David Campese.
Campese veered to the left and beat his opponent and passed the ball to Steve Tuynman. Campese then supported Tuynman on the inside to take the pass.
Scottish eightman John Beattie was coming across in cover, but Campese simply out-sprinted him to the try-line for a terrific counter-attacking movement
2. Mark Ella’s try Vs Ireland
Mark Ella was the difference between Australia winning and losing this game. It was a strange game in the sense that Ireland didn’t strike me as a great side, but they were able to upset Australia to the point where the game became very messy.
They showed tremendous fighting spirit, and really ‘muddied’ the context, making it difficult for Australia to get any clean ball.
Steve Cutler was nullified to an extent by the dynamic jumping of Donal Lenihan. Australia also blew three tries in this game. The first came after a jaw-dropping break from Campese led to Simon Poidevin being one-on-one with Irish fullback Hugo MacNeill with winger Matt Burke on his outside.
If Poidevin had one weakness in his game in those days, it was his hands, and after being caught in two minds he threw a forward pass, bombing what was a certain try. Later Australia could have scored a pushover try, but the ball squirted out at the wrong moment and a loose pass destroyed a good moment to attack.
Later Campese and Ella, the kindred spirits, linked together marvellously to keep the ball alive. Ella chipped the ball forward for Campese to run onto. Campese had nobody in front of him, and all that was required was a small kick to put the ball over the try line and to fall on it.
The kick didn’t come off right and Campese missed his opportunity.
While all this was happening Ireland were staying in touch and hit the lead with 15 minutes to go. Ireland had the momentum and the crowd sense an upset.
Ella dropped two magnificent goals in this game that kept Australia in touch any time Ireland looked to have any dominance. With five minutes remaining Ella scored what I consider the best of his six international tries.
What made Ella’s try so special was the way he shadowed every player who touched the ball. Ella slipped a quick pass to Michael Lynagh who made the break.
Ella shadowed him.
Then Lynagh passed to Matt Burke, and Ella veered off in the right direction and shadowed him. Then the ball came to Campese who had two defenders to beat, and Ella looped around him to score the try. If you watch a replay of the try, you’ll notice Ella passed the ball to Lynagh on the right hand side of the field about 10 metres in.
When he scored the try he was in the left corner. Then ask yourself why no other Australian player was near Campese to support him? Ella read the play all the way better than anybody and there’s no logical reason why he should have been the player to take the ball off Campese in this game.
I’ve always said Ella stretched the boundaries of support play more than any other five-eighth I have seen, and his try against Ireland is proof of that.
1. The Pushover Try Vs Wales
Can there be any doubt this was the defining moment of the 1984 Grand Slam tour?
Actually what I remember more than this try was the very first scrum of the game, which took place deep in the Wallaby territory.
The whole of Cardiff Arms started to roar, sensing the Welsh had a chance to attack. The Wallabies’ scrum sent them backwards at a rate of knots and suddenly the crowd went silent as if somebody had pressed the mute button on my television.
Topo Rodriguez gave the Welsh prop Ian Eidman such a thrashing that Ian Stevens was switched to tight-head. Rodriguez then drove into Stevens so hard that his rib cartilages snapped and he had to be taken off the field. The Welsh players later confessed they knew they couldn’t win when their scrum was so comprehensively beaten in the early stages of the game.
The Welsh scrum, it had been said, was where Wales would really sort Australia out, and Australia knocked-off their greatest strength right from the start.
But the pushover try itself was the defining moment. Lawton made the call of ‘Samson’ and Australia did to the Welsh what they had done to so many countries in the 70s.
It was a defining moment for Australia also in the sense that Australia has generally been more renowned for their back play than their forward play. That try signified that Australia was now a complete side from top to bottom.
Stash
Guest
More reminiscing - Didn't anyone catch the 4 January, 1936 game between England and New Zealand? Russian Prince Alexander Obolensky scored 2 tries on debut for England (13-0) - it was a cracker...and the beer was really, really cheap.
Knives Out
Guest
While we're reminiscing over Golden Greats lets not forget Dean Richards during the 1995 (or was it 1991?) WC having been pushed to the bench, Deans lolled about with socks rolled down, his two fake front teeth removed and a tweed flat cap on his increasingly balding head. Could you imagine any of the current professionals sitting on the bench in such a manner? Priceless indeed.
sheek
Guest
Stan Pilecki was that 1984 GS tour, at the grand old age of 37. He was one of the real characters of rugby, but sadly those of his ilk don't exist anymore. On a midweek tour match of Argentina in 1979, Pilecki was on the bench, when one of the starting props was injured, & indicated he would need to be replaced soon. Coach Bob Templeton turned to Pilecki, "Stan, warm up, you're going on in a few minutes". Stan was actually smoking at the time! He stood up, stretched his arms wide while taking several last puffs on his cigarette & announced, "Okay, I'm ready now". Priceless!
Knives Out
Guest
-- Frank, out of sheer coincidence I happen to be reading the autobiography of Stuart Barnes and having read this article I came across a chapter whereby Barnes describes the build-up to the 1984 Australia v England game. Having featured in the South and South-west 12-12 Australia game Barnes was promoted to the full side for his début cap (along with Gareth Chilcott, Nigel Redman, Nigel Melville, Nick Stringer and Rob Lozowski). '(Referring to the first squad training session on a Monday night.) I anticipated that the entire two-hour session would be dedicated to team play as the international was only six days away. Instead we wasted time with Dick Greenwood's fitness work, including a three-minute run where players had to touch each line on the pitch and back to the goal-line in the designated time, and the 'ton', referring to the hundred press-ups and hundred sit-ups. I may once have achieved a combined total of 80! That was better than the majority of the squad. Match preparation was nearly non-existent. Nigel Melville threw a few dozen passes to me, which established us as an international half-back pairing. Obviously the side was so talented that the two days' training in London prior to the game would provide sufficient match preparation. This shoddy preparation in no way reflected an underestimation of Australia, who we knew were a formidable side, it was merely the way things were in 1984. The game illustrated the prevalent amateurism of English rugby at the time. Steve Mills, the hooker, was injured and replaced by Steve Brain. Not only had 'Brainy' never thrown to the jumpers, he did not even know the line-out calls Not surprisingly Australia dominated the match and won comfortably 19-3.' Brings a tear to the eye. Reading that makes me feel so proud to be English. But wait... there's more. Barnes does illustrate the complete nonsense of representing England in the mid-1980s, but he doesn't hide from highlighting his own errors: 'When I gained my first replacement cap against Rumania, back in 1985, I must have had at least three jelly babies in my mouth as I ran on to Twickenham.' Was rugby better in the past? Maybe for some nations, but certainly not for all.
Chris
Guest
No doubt the pushover try was a great moment but I think the Larkham droppie was probably better.
Chris
Guest
To me that was the point where I realised Cooper would never make a full strength Australian team. Horrible game! That said - he does some brilliant stuff when he is "in".
Knives Out
Guest
Thanks for the response. Jones is an oaf.
OldManEmu
Guest
The pushover try is no doubt the greatest single moment in Australian Rugby history. I vividly recall sitting up in the wee hours with my old man watching that test and his great excitement at the try. I sort of knew what was going on but not really.
funmaster
Guest
1984? thats all? geez i wasnt even born yet. So as it stands... Australia - 1grand slam 2 world cups and 2 tri-nations New Zealand -3 grand slams 1 world cup and 9 tri-nations South Africa -4 grand slams 2 world cups and 3 tri-nations or am i wrong? only been watching rugby since 1994
Wix
Guest
Congratulations to Frank O'Keeffe for his refreshingly young spin to an age old 25 year old legacy.To read it without bursting into tears of both admiration and frustration. Admiration of a Wallabies squad packed with talent playing a style of rugby which is now obsolete. (if you want confirmation of its obscelence, just ask any of the spectators who have voted with their feet by staying at home). Frustration at the fact that the rugby powrbrokers of today have learned nothing from the 1984 model. I would like to add some less refreshing comments to Frank's comments. Firstly why have all Wallabies teams/coaches since then ditched the concepts of that squad's brilliant performance, with no apparent hope of ever resurrecting them? Is it because we have never had another Mark Ella? Which brings me to the second point. Why, almost immediately after the 1984 squad returned home, did a certain young playe in the prime of his (rugby) life, arguably the greatest ever player in any position in any national side (with the possible exception of Ken Catchpole and Serge Blanco) retire from all activities of any kind associated with his bleoved game? I will leave it to the reader(s) to fill in the name of their choice. Did he fall or was he pushed? Somebody like Frank O'Keeffe or Spiro Zarvos might like to do some research.
sheek
Guest
Frank, Of course you're right! Again!! Great player that he was, Loane was incredibly dogmatic, & admitted himself many years later it was his weakness. Note 1980 when Loane was on a sabbatical in South Africa, & Paul mcLean & Andy Slack were injured, the young Wallaby backline was given it's collective head. Much to our eternal thanks (those of us who witnessed that series). Yet had McLean (incumbent captain), Slack & Loane all been around, it might have been so different, & less exciting. And Slack was a wonderful, unselfish player who did a lot of good things off the ball. Great summation. Personality wise, the team as it was in 1984 meshed perfectly.
Hoy
Roar Guru
What I find most amazing, is when watching Rise and Rise of Aus Rugby and Ella says "If I didn't catch that ball, I shouldn't have been playing 5/8" or words to that effect. Sort of humble for him to think he did nothing special, and also interesting to think that is what all 5/8s should be doing, when some of our players can't catch, and are paid a lot more to do so than Ella was. Remember Cooper against the Chiefs in his first year? Dropped about 20 balls for the game, and they were all a lot simpler than that bootlace special.
BennO
Guest
I don't have any videos of the grand slam tour, do the ARU sell dvds of past games? Anyway, I've just been looking around youtube and found this tribute to campo from some video or other. It doesn't have any sound but there's some great stuff from the grand slam tour, including some of the moments Frank mentioned. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0rfTcww49zM Again, thanks for your article mate.
Frank O'Keeffe
Guest
Sheek, I select Mark Loane at 8 in my all-time Australian side because he was so dominant in rucks and mauls, and of course he was a devastating runner. But I've always added the qualifier that 'Mark Loane would feel probably feel out of place in this side.' One sort of wonders what kind of restrictive result Loane would have had on the Grand Slam side. Bob Dwyer has always contended that Steve Tuynman used his support players better than Mark Loane. Although one possibly gets the sense that there's some tension between Dwyer and Loane if you read Dwyer's books. However, Dwyer's point might be a valid one. I can just envisage Campese passing the ball to Loane on the wing (where Tuynamn was when Campese scored his great try against Scotland) and Loane just trying to run over his opposite number, rather than passing the ball back to Campese. Perhaps it's folly to suggest what could have happened, but certainly Tuynman played a tremendous role in the Grand Slam side. The same logic applies to Andrew Slack. If you watch the 1980 Bledisloe Cup series it's safe to say O'Connor was a better player. He had amazing feet, speed to beat players on both sides, composure standing flat, which is especially important for an outside centre. Bob Dwyer always said it's the outside centre that comes under the most pressure when standing flat because by the time the ball gets to him the defence is usually on to him (although O'Connor always said that wasn't much of a problem with Mark Ella's service). However, Andrew Slack made some incredible contributions on that tour. If you watch Campese's first try against Scotland Andrew Slack throws the most incredible long pass to Campeset. The great thing about that try is various Wallabies like Mark Ella considered one of Slack's weaknesses to be the long pass. Reportedly after the Llanelli game Slacky stayed around after training in the rain practing his long passes. Anyway that pass to Campese was wonderful, not many players could have pulled that off, and possibly O'Connor would have botched that up. Slacky once said it takes a while to become accustomed to the flat allignment. It's perhaps the reason why Slacky was dropped for the first two Tests in New Zealand in 1982. But one gets the sense Slack was entirely comfortable with the flat allignment by 1984. Watch Lynagh's try against England and the way the players run around each other. Slack was such a linchpin in that movement. And against the Barbarians Ella, Lynagh and Slack pulled off a beautiful double loop. Great Slack again! Slacky's perhaps not the type of player who'd make many highlight reels. But he was just one of those incredibly solid players who never made a mistake. In a Grand Slam side with a lot of free spirits like Ella and Campese, it didn't hurt having a stablising influence in the backline. Rod MacQueen once rightfully said you can't have a team full of Campo's because the left hand wouldn't know what the right was doing. It takes all kinds and Slack was a nice ingredient in that terrific backline. My opinion is yes that side would have been better if they had Loane and O'Connor. O'Connor was fine with the flat allignment because he played with the 77/78 Schoolboys (although he only played one game with them if I remember reading correctly). In 1980 he was brilliant with Ella and Hawker. Loane's presence would be too invaluable to leave him out of any Australian side. Poidevin once said he felt 10ft tall standing next to Loaney. They'd have been a better side with Loane and O'Connor, but in my opinion NOT BY MUCH.
Andrew Logan
Guest
Great piece Frank. A further note on the "Just chuck it out and I'll catch it" comment from Ella. Apparently early in his Test career he was paired with John Hipwell. At a training session Ella asked Hippy "Where do you want me to stand mate?", to which Hipwell replied "You stand wherever you're comfortable - I'll hit you wherever you are". Ella later commented that he was happy to be able to give his new halfback Farr-Jones the same confidence that Hipwell had given him.
Spiro Zavos
Expert
What a great piece. The thing about sport is that there is an immortal quality about the memorable events. While memories like this are strong and vivid and perfectly understood the 1984 Grand Slam tour will remain real and alive, as it should as one of Australian rugby's finest tours.
fox
Guest
Excellent work! I loved it all. The current team should do a crash course in the 1984 side's achievements so that they are adequately reminded of tour and steeped in its tradition so that they might recognise in what great footsteps they follow.
sheek
Guest
Frank, Love it. I was thinking the other day it would be unjust if the current Wallabies emulated the 1984 feat, since the current team isn't a patch on the 1984 outfit. But I wish them well all the same. True, British & Irish rugby was beginning to slide in the mid-80s, but you can't take anything away from the brilliance of the 84 wallabies. I love the following interchange between Farr-Jones & Ella. Going into his first test against England, F-J asked Ella where he would like the ball thrown to him. Ella replied laconically, "you just chuck it out, & I'll catch it"! BTW Frank, how much stronger would this 84 team have been with Mark Loane (30), Mitchell Cox(25), Mick O'Connor (24), Tony D'Arcy (26) & David Hillhouse(29) still young enough to be playing????? Loane retired in 1982 aged 28, & told Alan Jones several times he retired too young, & wished he had played under Jones' coaching. Cox defected to RL in 1982, while O'Connor & D'Arcy defected to RL in 1983. Hillhouse retired in 1983 to concentrate on his career as a commercial pilot.
Jouberrt
Guest
Thanks to pounds and scalpers I was at Cardiff as well and as a ex front rower what a pleasure it was to see the 'pushover try' - redemption. I was also at the old Sports Ground when Wales ran roughshod over NSW some years belore which culminated in the Graham Price Affair. This was still bitter in the mouths of the Welsh. However from the first match on tour at Twickers v London I think, you just knew the team was going to be competitive - and they certainly were - what fond memories
Frank O'Keeffe
Guest
Knives Out, Here's what Stephen Jones (the journalist, not the rugby player) said before the Welsh game in the Sunday Times: "Anyone expecting an extravagant caravan of entertainment from the Australians will be disappointed. The truth is that they will struggle. The tour is a minefield, a fixture of sustained ferocity." Admittedly Jones, despite perhaps being the most renowned British rugby journalist, says some stupid stuff. And he contradicts himself a lot. In recent times Stephen Jones has said the '84 Wallabies weren't that great because the quality of rugby in the UK was soo poor at the time anybody could have won the Grand Slam. But anyway, he picked Wales to win in 1984. The Welsh coach even said before the game that he expected Wales would beat Australia nine times out of 10. Maybe you could put that down to confidence and believing in his team, but I think the general feeling was that Wales would beat Australia. It was also said to Australia before the tour (by Ian McGeechan I think???) that Australia would easily beat England because they were fielding their worst side for 50 years, they would probably beat Ireland (who turned out to be the toughest opposition), and that the games against Wales and Scotland were the ones to worry about. Maybe people were just overrating Wales and not looking at their results in 1984. Maybe they were underrating Australia, as Australian teams performed poorly on most trips to Europe (1927/28 and 1947/48 excluded). I mean the stories of how pathetic the Wallabies of the late 50s were defy description! But anyway, to sum this up, it was expected that Wales would win for whatever reason. It turned-out to be Australia's best performance of the tour, and possibly the 80s.