The Wallabies' slow starts are hurting them, a tougher World Cup path now lies ahead and was that the best ever "away" Wallabies crowd?
What else are we talking about following Wales' win over Australia in Tokyo?
The Wallabies can still go deep at the World Cup
But only if they start playing the right footy for more than half-hour per game, that is. And preferably playing said footy in the first half.
The loss to Wales was an exercise in frustration for Wallabies’ fans, who were right to have confidence in Australia’s capacity to beat the Welsh.
But for a second straight World Cup fixture, the Wallabies spent the first 40-odd minutes occupied themselves with digging a decent-sized hole for themselves to climb out of.
After trailing Fiji 21-12 before rolling home, the Aussies trailed 26-8 to Wales at Tokyo Stadium. And like in Sapporo, the Wallabies had given up most of those points with a mix of turnovers, intercepts and ill-discipline.
Also like Sapporo, the Wallabies figured out playing direct was the go, and on the back of the excellent Allan Alaalatoa and Matt Toomua, the Wallabies’ straight-line, hole-punching game began to bear fruit.
(Why the Wallabies began kicking again after getting back to 26-25 is a mystery. It gave Wales the ball and access to the Aussie half, and then a game-sealing penalty).
But as far as the World Cup chances go for the Wallabies, the big question boils down to: any danger of playing that good stuff in the first half? Direct + combative = effective.
Michael Cheika was right to say you can’t have it all your own way in Test match rugby, and results are built over 80 minutes. And the Wallabies have shown in fighting back, they have bucketloads of resolve.
But it’s probably best just to not dig the hole in the first place, right?
The Wallabies won’t be able to rely on one good half of rugby - or less - to win a playoff game. Certainly not a final.
The World Cup path has become harder
So what does the loss to Wales mean as far winning a World Cup?
More upsets can up-end the apple cart but if things go to form, Australia will now likely have to meet England in the quarter-finals, and then have to meet New Zealand in the semi-final.
Much like Australia discovered in 2011, losing a pool game makes World Cups a hell of a lot harder to win. Mostly because it spins you into the path of New Zealand.
Australia managed to beat the Springboks in a war in the 2011 quarters, but the All Blacks ended the Wallaby campaign in the semi-final.
Wales will now likely face the ‘easier’ path of playing Argentina or France in the quarters, and then South Africa in the semi-final. (Or, if you’re as good as your last game, maybe Japan).
For the Wallabies, England have tended to be a nemesis in World Cup quarters. The old enemy sent Australia packing in the quarters at the 1995 and 2007 World Cups.
Eddie Jones was an interested spectator at Tokyo Stadium and in a delightful act of Aussie-Welsh unity, the England coach was loudly booed.
Wallabies need to decide who is the best no.10
Who is the number 10 for the Wallabies? Two games into the World Cup and we’re still not sure.
Matt Toomua certainly did more than enough against Wales to earn himself a gig in he no.10 jersey.
Australia play Uruguay next in Oita and it’s likely he would have got a start anyway, but Toomua’s impact in the second half against Wales - adding some straight running and at-the-line threat - was more than enough to earn consideration as the starting ten going forward.
Bernard Foley had an unhappy afternoon, and it’s probably no surprise given he’s barely played this winter and not had any chance to bed down those under-fire instincts.
Training in combinations is one thing, the heat of battle is something else entirely.
Foley and O’Connor had never started a Test together, for example. And that confusion and lack of connection in the midfield was obvious.
Given the Wallabies were trying to beat Wales’ rush defence by getting the ball outside the rushing 13, that was a big problem.
Outsmarting rush defence has been an issue for Aussie teams of all shapes and sizes this year. Chasing that tempting space wide can and has led to a lot of teams playing laterally and paying a price when skill execution is not razor-sharp.
Toomua’s straight running at the line - which Christian Lealiifano did lots of in Perth too - seems to be a better key to patiently unpick that lock.
Wazza turns the tables on Wallabies
Warren Gatland is a smart coach, and he clearly loves coaching against Australia.
For a long time he couldn’t buy a win against the Wallabies - for Wales at least - but he’s squaring that ledger up pretty well now.
Take Genia’s pass being picked off a couple of times - no accident. The fact Gareth Davies did those intercepts was all the evidence needed.
They would have noted Genia’s pass tends to be long, and often cuts a few runners. And it’s slightly delayed too, with Genia taking a few steps before the pass.
Davies, as a halfback, is not only quick but he’s a halfback too, and able to time his run perfectly.
Ignore the screenshots showing him “offside” for his try - Davies was behind the line when Genia picked it up and timed it sweetly.
The scrum was another area that Michael Cheika was unhappy about, believing Australia’s dominance wasn’t rewarded by Romain Poite.
You wonder whether that was Gatland-influenced, too.
Remember Gatland’s British and Irish Lions used the scrum - and scrum penalties - to win the third Lions Test in Sydney in 2013.
There’d been a tonne of chat that week about the Australian scrum being no good and weak, and lo and behold, the referee agreed on the night and even carded Ben Alexander for repeated collapses.
Who was that whistleblower? Romain Poite. The same man as in Tokyo Stadium who pinged the Wallabies for collapsing a scrum on their own feed.
Judging from the referee’s mic, the Wallabies felt like Wales were playing plenty of games at scrum time: not taking the weight etc. All tricks designed to help a referee make an instinctive call on past reputations.
And the Welsh field goals? Super canny.
Sunday night at Tokyo Stadium was the ninth game in 15 Tests between Wales and Australia - across the last decade - that was decided by five points or less.
These two teams always go to the wire so putting three points on the board after 35 seconds was a statement.
Touring Wallabies fans have a belter in Tokyo
Refereeing drama and a good couple of lines from Michael Cheika can tend to occupy all the airspace after a Test.
But it would be wrong to not paint the bigger picture from a thoroughly memorable Wallabies-Wales clash at Tokyo Stadium.
The @wallabies looked pumped up for this one.
— Rugby World Cup (@rugbyworldcup) September 29, 2019
A massive game in Pool D. MASSIVE.
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The joint was pumping.
And Australians were comfortably the dominant force, in number and in voice.
The Welsh are not mugs when it comes to making a din but the Wallabies fans sung the national anthem so loud, it could have been at Suncorp Stadium.
In fact, it was a bigger and better than most Aussie anthems have been belted out at home for a long, long time.
It was a loud and proud bunch of supporters all game, in fact.
Aussie fans have a habit of going quiet during a game, and that was the case in an oddly subdued Sapporo Dome.
But at Tokyo Stadium, Wales’ songs were responded to by a few rousing versions Waltzing Matilda. And that one hasn’t been sung spontaneously since the early 2000s.
It was, arguably, the best travelling Wallabies “away" crowd ever assembled.
And to top it off, there was a lovely spirit of fun and enjoyment with the Wales fans. A loss, sure.
But that was a day that'll be remembered by many for a long time.
