How the Wallabies beat Wales 15-6 in a try-less epic at Twickenham this morning defied description, best summed up by Wallabies skipper Stephen Moore. “That’s one of the best wins I’ve ever been involved in, the way we turned up for each other.”
Seeing that Moore has played in 99 internationals, that’s a long list of memories to draw on.
Looking at the 80 minutes of pure tension in front of a packed and raucous house, Wales won everything but the game.
But how the Wallabies won can be put into a capsule of 12 extraordinary minutes as the Welsh constantly bombarded the Wallabies’ line with the score 12-6 in Australia’s favour.
Yet for eight of those 12 minutes, Will Genia and Dean Mumm were in the bin, leaving just 13 men in gold to withstand unbelievable pressure.
But that’s exactly what they did with around 20 minutes left on the clock.
Just when it seemed impossible for the Wallabues to keep Wales at bay any longer, referee Craig Joubert awarded Australia a penalty inside their own quarter where they had been camped without possession.
Bernard Foley cleared, and as if they flicked the switch, suddenly it was Wales on the defensive as the relieved Wallabies ran the ball,
At the 72nd minute mark, Foley landed his fifth penalty from as many attempts, and the Wallabies were in clear space leading 15-6 and back to 15 men on duty.
The gallant Wallabies were home, and as knackered as they were all 23 in the squad had raised their personal bars.
It would be impossible to single out one player, but David Pocock, Scott Fardy and Sean McMahon stood out in the pack, while the backs were a bit quiet in attack, but superb in defence.
There was a worrying time for coach Michael Cheika after Pocock limped from the field with a calf injury and although Israel Folau (ankle) and Matt Giteau (ribs) lasted for most of the game, they weren’t anywhere near fully fit.
But the Wallabies coaching staff deserve a lot of praise for this win.
Cheika is a master tactician, Mario Ledesma has the scrum working a treat, Nathan Grey as defence coach can rate it as his finest hour, and even though the backs were quiet, attack coach Stephen Larkham has plenty of talent to work with for the quarter-final against Scotland at Twickenham early Monday morning (AEDT).
But I’ve left Foley until last. His boot is priceless.
So far he’s landed 18 goals from 20 attempts in the tournament, with his boot-on-ball timing just perfection.
Of the others, Pocock must be fit for the knockouts, so too must Folau and Giteau, while space has to be found for Kurtley Beale, if not in the starting line-up then definitely earlier than the 66th minute.
Beale and Folau are the Wallaby x-factor backs. Cut them loose and the tries will come.
In the meantime, if Foley’s string of penalty goals keep coming, so be it.
Sam
Guest
The All Blacks
Chuck
Guest
Keep living on your memory this is 2015 ,
RF
Guest
Was there for this game. Atmosphere was out of control. Best Advance Australia Fair I have heard. Wallabies and their fans definitely pitched up for battle.
Benno
Guest
-- Comment from The Roar's iPhone app.
Benno
Guest
It's great to finally see some negative comments regarding Folau. He is rubbish under the high ball, drops far more than he catches generally because he has his eyes closed or his face turned away (No wonder he was an AFL failure). On top of this he regularly turns the ball over in contact and his positional play in defence is appalling. He runs great lines, generally puts himself in a position to receive the ball in space and often beats the first tackle but struggles to link with support players. Folau as the wallabies saviour is a myth particularly as his try scoring has ability has appeared to dry up. To play him in such a big match while injured was an epic failure of the coaching staff though I understand they don't have a lot of choice there. -- Comment from The Roar's iPhone app.
FrancisF
Roar Pro
The game against England was awesome, clinical and at the same time entertaining. Now for the game against Wales, its exceptional, no-holds barred, and death defying performance, as though if the Wallabies had to jump off the cliff to win, they would. More than a year ago before Chejka was asked by the Australian rugby officials to take the underperforming team by the throat and dragged it to the World Cup, the Wallabies were no- hopers waiting to play second fiddle or worse, to be present in UK to form the numbers for the tournament. Well, after that spectacular performance against England and the stellar performance against Wales, its game on for the Cup. Its about time there is a the change of guards on the rugby lanscape across the Tasman ditch. Chejka said the players must believe in themselves. Well, Australia dares to hope in this believable Wallabies team. The third win for the Cup is within reach.... And as for the All Blacks with mor retiring players for the World Cup, they are known to choke when it matters most.
the french
Roar Rookie
Courageous they were... but on both sides. This wallabies side is really Aussie through and through not very pretty but extremely opportunistic and they ll rack up anything they can to get ahead. Outside of that i noted that Cheika slightly altered his substitution strategy which he adapted to the game s extraordinary situation and that worked wonders. He drip fed players when we were down in numbers instead of bringing in wholesale changes. Very smart, less disruption at a time when communication and cohesion are everything yet he still kept on bringing new blood and energy coming to front up the ceaseless attacking waves of the Welsh team. He kept his captain as the last forward sub to make sure there was a handle on leadership and brought ib his 2 arrrows in the backlime with KB and Tomua when the team was getting back to 14 and 15 to hurt the welsh a bit more. I thought that strategy kept the team afloat and was at the same time a deviation from the standard changeover i have seen him do since the start of the cup.
Ryan
Guest
The Wallabies dismantled the English with ease they were timid lambs to the slaughter, there was nothing momentous really about it as the Wallabies were so good they hardly were pushed hard for it. I loved that game don't get me wrong I'm just putting perspective on it. The English were down and out they never believed they could win that game it was obvious to see after the first 10 minutes, it was clear to see from their first game against Fiji they didn't have the metal to test Australia. Last nights game against the Welsh it was sub standard and there is only 10 minutes that Australia can be really proud of. You have to also remember Australia could not score a try against 14 Welshmen. If Australia is going to win this tournament they are going to have to pick up their game because last night was not convincing and not everyone is going to be as ill disciplined as Wales, speaking of discipline Australia can't afford to get yellow cards moving forward. Actually no one can.
DaniE
Roar Guru
MOTM is decided by a panel nominating players - then viewers go to Mastercard's rugby site www.rugby.priceless.com or following MasterCard UK on Twitter to vote. More details here http://rugby.priceless.com/en/man-of-the-match.html#3gtSO6UISMasMpEt.97 For a tournament that bans sponsorship on jerseys, to do this is frankly stupid!
Taylorman
Guest
Yes but what happened to the ability to score one try in the other 67 minutes as the favourite for the match?
TF the southerner
Guest
Steve you're on another planet big fella, show me another team in the history of rugby union that could hold out an opposition on their own line for 13 minutes down 2 players and I'll give you a william webb ellis trophy mate
Sandy B
Guest
And if ireland beat france tonight nz get to play thr frogs in the quarters.....Ahhh memories!
Sandy B
Guest
Big dog had a blinder
Jamieson Murphy
Roar Guru
I wasn't aware of this voting/tweeting system. What's the go with that?
Steve Prendergrast
Guest
Absolutely Harry, you are dead right - they've proved they can defend against a hopeless attack and attack a hopeless defence. You're spot on about their momentous efforts. They are now battle hardened beyond all belief.
Nick
Guest
No team has a plan B C D etc It's a myth that idiots on the interwebz believe. Most teams game plans involve breaking down the opposition over the course of the match, nothing works immediately. What use is it to change a plan while you're building towards your goal? Very infrequently a minor change or redirection back to the original set of plans will happen at half time if a side has strayed from it but there's no cache of plans to all of a sudden jump to.
Buzzard
Guest
Im an ABs fan, but I love the attention & publicity the WBs are getting it puts the ABs cruising under the radar?????
Harry
Guest
Guess we'll find out next weekend when the quarters start eh kiwi's. I do believe the last 2 weeks have required momentous efforts by the Wallabies, must have taken its toll, although on the other hand they are now match hardened. The easy run to the semi's for NZ could be a help or hinderance.
Ryan
Guest
There is an element of truth in this and we are overlooking the inadequacies and short comings because the Wallabies won.
RT
Guest
But but gatland' ss genius. A kiwi genius I tell you!