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When the Wallabies took to Suncorp last night against the Boks with three key original selections missing in David Pocock, Israel Folau, and Adam Coleman, the chances of a much-needed win after two hammerings by the All Blacks were bleak at best.
Altogether, Pocock’s neck injury, Folau’s ankle, and the imminent birth of Coleman’s first child was set to create huge holes in a side bereft of confidence.
Apparently not.
For once in this campaign the Wallabies showed plenty of ticker, toughing it out in difficult conditions to chalk up a 23-18 come-from-behind win.
Sure it wasn’t pretty, sure it wasn’t done by the book.
But who gives a stuff, a win sure beats the living daylights out of a loss.
Two stats from last night demand attention – just 12 Wallaby turnovers in slippery conditions, and only 16 missed tackles for one helluva performance, deserving of praise for beleaguered head coach Michael Cheika and defence coach Nathan Grey.
The Wallabies started the right way with new fly-half Kurtley Beale’s bust that ended in Michael Hooper’s try after two minutes – converted by Matt Toomua.
But when the Boks took a 15-7 lead, the Wallaby faithful could be forgiven for thinking “here we go again”.
The Wallabies obviously didn’t think so.
Toomua crossed after a long lineout feed from the Boks went astray, converted his own try, and Reece Hodge landed a monster 53-metre penalty to go into the break down 17-18.
With the Boks dominating the first half territory with 56 per cent, and the second with 52, the Wallabies stood up to be counted defending with courage, including many big hits.
So much so the Boks were kept scoreless in the second session – no mean feat in itself.
Prop Scott Sio summed it up best in a post-match interview.
He was so knackered with the defensive effort he said he was going to have a very early night, and would be very sore in the morning.
Sio was talking for the entire team, there were no Wallaby shirkers on duty last night, as the 27,849 Suncorp spectators who braved the weather would attest.
So Cheika has some intriguing decisions to make before the Wallabies take on the Pumas at the Gold Coast next Saturday.
With Will Genia back to his busy best, will Cheika retain the Beale-Toomua-flyhalf-inside centre combination?
Beale hadn’t worn the 10 jersey since 2014, but he looked at home, while Toomua won the man-of-the-match award.
Kurtley Beale of Australia (Photo by Dan Mullan/Getty Images)
Folau must return as fullback, leaving Cheika with two wing positions from four contenders – Marika Koriobete, Jack Maddocks, Dane Haylett-Petty, and Tom Banks.
Up front Pocock and Coleman are automatic selections, but where for Pocock?
Surely the Pooper experiment has run its race, but Hooper can only play seven.
Last night the leadership inspiration came from Genia and Beale, with Hooper again spending far too much time swanning in the backline.
At one stage in the second half he was out on the wing, well away from his open-side flanker’s role.
It’s a tough call for Cheika to make, but the only important Test is the next one against the Pumas, the Rugby World Cup is far too far away to make any meaningful positional decisions.
One thing for sure, last night was a massive step in the right direction.
The Wallabies proved they can come from behind, can tackle, and can retain possession.
They must never return to those bad days where they were an embarrassment to themselves.
If it means winning ugly, so be it.