There is no more fitting description for what Wallaby fans have been crying out for in 2012.
Many rugby followers I know have specifically mentioned a necessary rebirth that Australian rugby must undergo, and specifically linked it to that great moment in Australian rugby known as ‘The Cornelson Test.’
In 1978 Australian rugby stood at a crossroads. The early 1970s are in many people’s view the lowest ebb that Australian rugby ever reached.
After beating England at home in 1975 and beating Wales in 1978, Australia finally had a chance to show their recent home success wasn’t smoke and mirrors against New Zealand in 1978.
It wasn’t to be, however. Despite losing the first Test by a narrow margin (Ken Wright missed what would have been the winning penalty), Australia were swept away in the second Test.
At this point in time the Wallabies were in a state of crisis. Many in the side felt despondent about how the team had performed given the high expectations.
The team galvanised, however, and produced one of the most remarkable performances in Wallabies history.
Australia came out in the third Test and inflicted on New Zealand what I believe may have been their biggest defeat, at that time, ever.
The game is most famous for Greg Cornelson scoring four tries. Interestingly, not one of those tries came from a pass, and I think I calculated that he ran less than four metres with the ball to score those tries.
But the significance of the game wasn’t Cornelson’s four tries, the significance of the game was that for many people this was the beginning of Australia becoming New Zealand’s regular foe.
In a period where Springbok tours were becoming less and less common, the Wallabies emerged as New Zealand’s biggest rival.
As John Kirwan once said, ‘Whenever I played Australia, it was the best in the world versus the second best in the world.’ Most times the best were New Zealand, but not always…
As a passionate Wallabies supporter I can say this is perhaps the most deflating year of watching the Wallabies play since 2005. The worst thing about this year has been the sense of sense of inevitability about the results this year.
Despite the Wallabies beating Wales 3-0 earlier this year, good judges of Test match rugby know the Wallabies were very close to losing the last of those two Tests.
Normally I get excited before the Bledisloe Cup. However this year I had little reason to think the Wallabies would turn things around, and losing another Bledisloe series felt like going through the motions once more.
I hate saying this, but it feels like Australia isn’t New Zealand’s great foe right now. For that matter, neither is South Africa.
Things aren’t too different to 1978. In 1978 Australia beat Wales in a series, just as Australia beat Wales this year. In 1978 the Wallabies lost the first two Tests to New Zealand, and in 2012 they’ve lost their first two.
If there are any Wallabies reading this I’d like them to know that the final Bledisloe Cup Test this year is a big deal. This isn’t a dead rubber. It’s an opportunity to change the path for the Wallabies. It will mean a big deal to me if the Wallabies win.
Beat the All Blacks and make them feel it, make it hurt.
Two Test matches should be in the minds of the Wallabies as they prepare – Eden Park (1978) and Wellington (1990).
Whether it’s a Cornelson Test or a Phil Kearns moment, the Wallabies desperately need ‘that Test’ which Wallabies fans will talk about years in the future.
I’m sure when the Wallabies won those two Tests they didn’t know what those Tests meant for the future of Australian rugby.
After the Cornelson Test, the next year (1979), the Wallabies won the Bledisloe Cup back for the first time in 30 years.
The next year after 1990, the Wallabies won the World Cup.
They wouldn’t have known what their wins meant in the bigger picture until they looked back and realised it was the beginning of something.
I’m a believer that the Wallabies, if they want to, can give us the Cornelson Test Australia desperately needs.
JohnB
Guest
A lot of injuries for the Wallabies back in 78 as I recall too!
Ra
Guest
Sad that you should say that sailosi. These days I live amongst the minnows of Aussie rugby, 3000km from Brizzy and Sydney, and where 90 per cent of the locals are AFL and rugby union and league take up most of the remaining 10 per cent. Minnows maybe, but the passion still exists here. On Friday nights, literally 100s of kids of all ages are down at Marrara Park having a go. We don't have a Super Rugby franchise up here and our Mozzies senior rep side don't play the big states, the kids still give their 100 and parents give their 100 to get them there. I'm only involved as a watcher these days, by choice, but the performance of the national side has great significance for the locals here. It gives kids here hopes and dreams to strive for, and it keeps the good natured and passionate Kiwi Aussie rivalry alive and well in the territory. Infact, I believe there is another test match on this weekend, the kiwis are trying to win back bragging rights in an annual golf match against the Aussies at Palmerston Golf Club. There's a hangi feed on afterwards, around the time of the rugby test and the winner of the golf game are rewarded with the nickname - cheats - the next months - again you see how significant that international rugby match is to the locals here
Ra
Guest
And then the All Blacks had a major clean out and went away on their first grand slam of the British home nations captained by Graham Mourie. Yes the Blacks suffered there shocker out of the blue defeats back around that time, one to the Ozzies when Greg Cornielson displayed amazing athleticism, the Bastiel test when the French backs ran like men possessed and amazing passes stuck like glue, and the poms came down for a one off test and against the odds with a rebuilding team, and in a freakish wind stole a 5 point win away. I do not believe that the All Blacks consider the Wallabies to be easy beats, or have ever thought that way since the Cornielson try fest match that signaled the end of the Awful Aussies era. The Ella mob of the '80's and the Eales mob of the '90's made sure of that. And there hasn't been too much between us in the 2000's era. Even though Aussies trash your own team, the All Blacks know they must bring their A game to every game especially now. The Kiwis know a wounded Wallaby is a dangerous animal, and we have a great respect for the wily dingo at the head of the pack too, even though many of you don't. Question - what do you call a bunch of Wallabies? A herd, a gaggle, a flock, a what ?
RugbyNZ
Guest
cheers for that, was absolutley amazing to win and without a coach, makes you wonder how much value the actual coach has on the paddock, this 1978 team did the whole 110% themselves, brilliant stuff....
Argyle
Roar Guru
Mate Tempo was in New Zealand but he was not the coach. Darryl Haberecht was. When asked if the team wanted Tempo to come on board to coach the declined and got the job done themselves.
RugbyNZ
Guest
One significant point about this great win by the Wallabies was that the team did it all by themselves. I recall and would like someone elso to remember, but on the Wednesday preceeding the 3rd test, the coach Bob Templeton was taken to Wanganui/ New Plymouth hospital for 3-4 days and the players did not have a coach for this test !!!! I was young at the time but recall the Aussie team were rock bottom coming off 2 x losses and with no coach and against all odds they beat the AB's well Love someone to check this point about no coach.
Mantis
Roar Guru
You have to remember that this is one of the best, if not the best, NZ team ever. And the depth they have is enormous. Their 2nd XV would beat us at the moment. We don't have the depth. We showed good heart and character beating Argentina over there, but they were clearly off their game. With our full strength side on the park we'd need to have a blinder and NZ would have to be off the boil for us to beat them. I think in the near future we will be more then competitive with them again. We have a lot of good young players who have been around the Wallabies for a number of year (Pockock, Genia, Beale, Oconnor...), and we have a number of good young players running around in Super Rugby who have played when needed, or yet to be given a proper crack (Hooper [who has been our best international player this year], GIll, Nic White, Lealiifano, Shipperly, Morahan, Neville, Pyle etc...). The Australian schoolboys also just recently beat NZ over there as well. The thing we need is a crop of good coaches. Jake White has done wonders with ACT. Imagine what NSW or Melbourne could do with some Jake White clones...
Lindommer
Guest
I'd prefer a Cornelsen Test.
Sailosi
Guest
Exactly right.
rl
Guest
Thats probably both the great success AND the great failing of John O'Neill's time as CEO. Yes, he did build up the Wallabies brand to be possibly Australia's prime international sporting team. But the layers below the Wallabies are all but invisible, and the grassroots are suffering. Look at the A-League by comparison - fingers-crossed the Socceroos chalk up a win against Iraq, and end up qualifying for the WC, but its increasingly looking like we should prepare for a bit of a dry spell at international level. Yet the A-League is insulated against that, and 2012/13 looks like a bumper year. Can some of the credit for the current position of the A-League be laid at JON's door?
Sailosi
Guest
Too much of Australian rugby centres around the Wallabies. I couldn't care less if the Wallabies win or lose, or if they never played another test match. International rugby is overrated and needless and usually mindnumbing. The fortunes of the Wallabies has zero influence on my love for the game. It's such a shame that the sport of rugby in Australia needs a great Wallaby performance to feel loved.
Argyle
Roar Guru
Hi Frank, that is a test series a remember well. That 78 Eden Park test is my favourite of all time. Mate in the 1st test at Wellington I think the ref was David Millar of Otago who called a penalty off the line-out and should have awarded it 15 yards in but instead made the Wallabies take it from near the touch line. Who knows if it that would have helped but at 13-12 anything could have happened. What was interesting about that series was that after Darryl Haberecht had fallen ill the team played three provincial matches before the last test. For memory they were against Hawkes Bay, Waikato and Northland or Counties. They won them all and had momentum going into the match. Furthermore Tony Shaw and Ross Turnbull had essentially taken over the team and drew a line in the sand and started a 'new 4 match tour with a new mind set. No back wards steps.' I am informed that the Wallabies knew they had to 'front up' to the All Blacks, in particular Andy Haden. A young Chris Handy was selected to play Hawkes Bay and I am told 'decked a gorilla' who had been throwing his weight around early in the match. Shaw and the team identified that Handy would be handy indeed for the Eden Park test. And he was. So where is our young firebrand of 2012? I don't see any in the squad. We have selected some 'beaten men'. I think a spark should be picked in Brisbane to do a job but its unlikely. Like 78 we have much against us but in 78 the team had to take ownership of itself, and did. They had a plan, they picked a side to execute it and executed it well. The Wallabies were magnificent on the day. I've seen Greg Cornelson interviewed since and he reckons he couldn't have scored those tries without the team. It was not about him, it was the team. I truly admire Greg Cornelson for they way he played the game and his humility. There is much we can learn from the manner in which the 78 team approached the match and the way Corny did as well. However I fear the Wallabies of 2012 are not quite as mentally tough as those of 78. I hope they shut me up!