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PARIS – It was far from perfect, but Eddie Jones is finally on the board in his second coming as Wallabies coach as his biggest selection gamble paid off brilliantly against Georgia.
The Australians won 35-15, attacking with verve and showcasing the athleticism of Jordie Petaia and Mark Nawaqanitawase in the opening half. But the standout story was a coronation for No.15 Ben Donaldson, a surprise selection ahead of Andrew Kellaway.
Donaldson scored two tries and, after missing his first kick was perfect from the tee thereafter, ending with 25 points. After his second try he received a rare standing ovation from Jones in the coaching box and he was named man of the match. He was inches away from grabbing a hat-trick at the death.
The Waratahs have let Donaldson go for next Super season – he will go the Force full of confidence now.
His first try on 56 minutes came after Taniela Tupou galloped into open ground and threw a pass worthy of a flyhalf. Tongar Thor has quite the highlights reel and he looked right back where he needs to be after 2022 was destroyed by an Achilles injury.
Ben Donaldson scores a try. (Photo by Adam Davy/PA Images via Getty Images)
We had a game plan, we’ve been building for a long time. The boys executed for the full 80 minutes and made me look half decent,” said Donaldson, after Australia rose from ninth to sixth on the world rankings.
“Kicking was part of our plan. For me at the back, providing my voice, a loud voice and a decent boot, a big boot.”
There were loose moments, especially early in the second 40 when Georgia scored while down to 14 men, but the Australians gave Jones his first victory after five straight losses since replacing Dave Rennie at the helm.
Georgia also came home brilliantly, needing try savers from Donno and Marky Mark, before they clinched the final try of the game to huge roars from the plus 75,000 crowd
Jones’ skipper Will Skelton was superb and while he’s considered a quiet man he was caught revving the team up in the first half and reminding them of the plan.
“Stick to the f—ing game plan… that’s it, just do your f—ing job. Be both sides, patience in the A Zone. Use them, boom boom, f–ing kick it back. Sweet?” Skelton roared.
The 34th minute loss of Tate McDermott, who was crunched with a knee to the head while trying to tackle Georgia’s No.8 Beka Gorgadze and is likely to miss the second pool match against Fiji, drained some of Australia’s attacking spark.
Australia’s Tate McDermott (left) runs with the ball during the 2023 Rugby World Cup Pool C match at the Stade de France, Paris. Picture date: Saturday September 9, 2023. (Photo by Adam Davy/PA Images via Getty Images)
Nic White couldn’t deliver the same impact.
Petaia went across in just the second minute following a rare Nawaqanitawase 50-22. Australia settled and ran it left with McDermott’s sharp pass finding Petaia who crashed through two defenders.
Petaia played at the 2019 World Cup and has hardly entrenched his position since then.
“What I love about Jordie is he’s doing both sdes of the ball at the moment, his attack , it shows confidence in his game play,” said his former captain Michael Hooper on Stan Sport. “Eddie wants to play eyes up rugby and he’ll be really happy with that.”
Wallabies 2003 World Cup finalist Mat Rogers said Petaia struggled in the warm up against France but was showing more of his talents on Sunday.
“The most important thing is getting hands on the ball early and that’s what he’s done tonight. In the warm up against France we didn’t call his name for the first 30 minutes, he was really quiet. The longer you leave yourself out of the game it’s hard to get yourself back. He’s done a great job tonight.”
Georgia hit back straight away when Australia’s actual flyhalf Carter Gordon horribly shanked an exit from the kickoff after Petaia’s try. The charge down led to a penalty but the Australians were untroubled and enjoyed 70 percent territory for the first half.
Nawaqanitawase added a second try eight minutes in after Marika Koroibete beat the first line of defence, firing up his huge motor and crunching through the first defensive line.
A few phases later Marky Mark was put over in the right corner by Petaia.
He was giving the Georgian back three a torrid time and won high praise from Michael Hooper.
“He’s the closet thing to Izzy Folau in recent times,” said Hoops. “The air he can produce, what he can do attacking wise, I loved his 50-22. You could see what the Aussies were doing early – it was a big kicking duel and even Marky Mark kicking early – that doesn’t happen often but it really paid off.
So one way was the traffic the crowd resorted to a Mexican Wave for entertainment. Tupou was even praised by referee Luke Pearce – but they were more engaged in a closer second half.
Australia, having conceded a 46th minute try, were on the rack before a turnover allowed Tupou to send Donaldson streaking away.
“We spoke before the game about making a statement, they’ve made it there,”said Kiwi World Cup winner Sonny Bill Williams. “A couple of sloppy areas but personally I love seeing these youngsters out there doing their thing, playing free. Because if they are going to go deep into this competition that’s what they will need to do.”
Rogers was underwhelmed by the Wallabies’second half.
“I wanted to see then more decisive, better decision making. Unfortunately, I didn’t see it. I thought they were quite poor in the second half. We got away with the win, but we need to improve a lot.”
But Rogers had plenty of praise for Donaldson.
“They picked him because of his kicking. Andrew Kellaway will feel a little hard done by but you have to weight it up. Do we sacrifice a bit of the play to knock the goals over. As the tournament goes on those goals will be very important. It worked tonight.”