For 40 minutes, the Wallabies were world-beaters. Then reality kicked in
Can we go through the good things, first? It won’t take long.
They were: Fraser McReight; the Wallabies’ line-out and scrum; Taniela Tupou on the burst with the wind his hair; Tom Wright’s kicking game; Joseph Aukuso-Suaalii doing tap-backs from the kick-off; and pretty much the whole first half!
After that, it got grim … so let’s expand on the good stuff. Oh come on, just for a moment.
McReight was a colossus from first to last. If he is not in the very front rank of the best back-rowers in the world right now, I at least can’t think of a better one. He scored two tries, monstered the French in defence, effortlessly ripped balls off the French at will and was a constant dangerous presence.
In the scrum, the Wallabies at least held their own and our lineout worked smoothly to the point of winning all of ours, and pinching a couple of theirs. As to Tupou on the burst? Long ago, the former Wallabies fullback turned TV commentator Greg Martin famously exclaimed upon watching the Waratahs prop Matt Dunning make a long burst down centre-field and the crowd jump to its feet: “The mob just loves to see a fat man run!”
It is a truth that has never changed, even if these days we’d find a better word than “fat”.
“Well-girthed”? “Handsomely proportioned”? Whatever it is, coming off the bench, Tupou once again showed his singular capacity to break through defences.
At fullback, Wright executed a couple of kicks that also reminded us just how good he can be.
Aukuso-Suaalii? In this match, he did three times – count ’em, THREE times – what this columnist has been ranting about for two years now. He went up from the kick-off, leapt high and tapped it back to our forwards. He does it so easily and well, but this was the first time he’s tried it for yonks, and he was – did I mention? -three from three!
Suaalii’s efforts there and in the midfield were a big part of the Wallabies going into the sheds holding a 21—12 lead against the best team in the world right now – the Six Nations Champions and everyone’s pick as the most likely team to win next year’s World Cup.
I repeat: the Wallabies had gone toe-to-toe with Muhammad Ali over eight rounds, and were ahead on points! (Helped along, true, by the fact that the French were down a man for ten minutes of that half when we scored two tries. But I don’t care.)
It was a fabulous effort and proof positive of what they were capable of. At that point, it seemed sure that at last, at last, this generation of Wallabies was going to move from being a team of massive potential to one with solid wins on the scoreboard against the best in the business.
And now to the bad stuff.
To say the “entire second half” doesn’t quite cover it, but if we note that the French put on 30 unanswered points to take a 21-12 deficit to 42-21 before we scored again, you’ll get the drift.
No-one said “cue the sun” but they clearly said “Libérez les bêtes bleues” – Unleash the blue beasts – because, before our very eyes, there was a seemingly unending cavalcade of enormous Frenchmen in blue jerseys, snorting fury and rampaging towards our line, breaking everyone in their way.
And that was just their backs. With their forwards, it was even worse.
In response, our blokes did everything they could to stop them, but the French were simply too big, too strong, and in the backs, too skilled. Ever and always, a French specialty has been creative play in the three-quarters, and we saw it in full in this match.
Time and again, their outside men flicked the ball between them and when the French scored their final try by their winger Theo Attissogbe going over in the corner, and the cameras panned to an ashen-faced Wallaby supporter closing his eyes in horror. That bloke was all of us.
What just happened? How did it all go so bad, so quickly?
Jeremy Williams’ late try salved the pain, a little, but no more than that. This was a bad day at the office for the Wobblies, and desperately disappointing after such a promising start. As ever, they are capable of fabulous play. The trick is to sustain it for 80 minutes.
The incoming Wallaby coach Les Kiss was in the stands, watching closely, and we can only hope he has some strong ideas.
’Cos, I’m all out.
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Peter FitzSimons is a journalist and columnist with The Sydney Morning Herald.Connect via X.