It took less than two minutes for Australia to show their continued progress under Joe Schmidt. Having secured the ball they set about their work with Nic White zipping short passes to narrow runners who charged straight and hard into contact. And again. And again. And again. In no time they’d worked their way to a 13th phase before a spill of the ball handed Wales a scrum on their own 22. The move didn’t yield any points but it offered a glimpse of what is possible under this new regime.
Last week Australia snatched a remarkable victory at Twickenham with true-blue Aussie gumption. Lightning hands, down the line, into the corner via tap-ons and sidesteps. It was a remarkable display of razzle-dazzle pulled off by naturally gifted ballers with licence to strut their stuff when the chance is on. But that’s always been there and, as long as 15 blokes show an interest in taking the field for some union footy, they’ll be there whether or not the code recedes from the mainstream. What this group needed was some steel and discipline, a dose of patience to go with their panache. That’s what wins Test matches.
