On Saturday morning assistant coach Matt Taylor said Suncorp Stadium felt like their national stadium. A mere 12 hours later the Wallabies overturned their biggest ever trans-Tasman loss by defeating the All Blacks 24-22 in Brisbane to earn Dave Rennie his first win as Australian coach and seal the national debate.
The two-point victory was the Wallabies’ seventh straight victory at the venue, a winning run which includes their triumph over the All Blacks in 2017 too, and keeps Rennie's side firmly in the Tri Nations.
In a crazy game that saw both nations lose forwards in the first-half to red cards, as well as yellow cards to both sides in each half, fly-half Reece Hodge bagged 14 points, including three crucial penalties in the second-half, to guide the Wallabies to victory.
The All Blacks, as they so often do, scored in the 79th minute via replacement lock Tupou Vaa’I, who was only called onto the bench on match day after Patrick Tuipulotu’s sickness, to set-up the grandstand finish.
But with one gigantic shot from Marika Koroibete on Damian McKenzie in defence, the Wallabies winger made sure of the victory as he forced a turnover with seconds left.
All that was needed was the Wallabies win the scrum and kick the ball out, and replacement playmaker Noah Lolesio, who had a tough night a week earlier on debut, didn’t fail.
Veteran commentator Greg Clark summing up the extraordinary match and turnaround between the trans-Tasman neighbours by declaring "miracles do happen".
Indeed they do, with the Wallabies considered $5 outsiders coming into the match after the 43-5 drubbing they copped at the Olympic stadium a week earlier.
"I'm rapt," Rennie said.
"There was a lot of character shown today. We said we wanted a response after last weekend, and we got it."
Hodge’s selection was considered conservative in the lead up to the match. It proved to be a coaching masterstroke from Rennie, as he provided the perfect foil for his hard-running backs and his boot – from both hand and off the tee – proved to be a weapon.
The composed display in the No.10 jersey continued Hodge’s love affair in Brisbane, after he helped snapped their losing streak against the All Blacks three year earlier with a late penalty strike.
"We talked about scoreboard pressure and we hadn't been able to do that in previous games, and Hodgy kicked pretty well and we got our noses in front and were able to apply a bit more through that," Rennie said.
The victory was the perfect response after their record hiding a week earlier and keeps the Wallabies firmly in the Tri Nations.
"We've got a long way to go, we're going to get a lot better, but it's good to get a result like this because it helps with a bit of belief," the new Wallabies coach added.
"It's only one day, but we'll have a couple of quiet ones to celebrate."
The victory was the perfect result for popular prop James Slipper, who became the 13th Australian to play 100 Tests, and Michael Hooper who led the Wallabies out as captain for the 50th time.
Outside back Tom Wright, who scored with his first touch in Test football in the third minute, and Koroibete were both excellent, while replacement props Taniela Tupou and Angus Bell provided game-changing impact off the bench.
The match started at a helter-skelter pace, with Wright touching down in just the third minute off the match after recalled fullback Tom Banks gathered Hodge's chip kick and offloaded to his winger to score.
The home side's lead didn't last long, as Wright's opposite winger Rieko Ioane scored in the eighth minute after sustained pressure on the Wallabies' line to level up the scores.
Hodge's first penalty of the night in the 20th minute saw the Wallabies move ahead.
It was then that the match turned on its head, as prop Ofa Tu'ungafasi was given his marching orders for collecting Wright on the chin with his right forearm.
Initially though, it was the All Blacks who responded better despite going a man down. The Wallabies overplayed their hand and the All Blacks capitalised, with Jordie Barrett slotting a penalty to level up the scores after 32 minute.
Three minutes later and debutant Lachie Swinton, who had been brilliant up until this point, joined Tu'ungafasi on the sidelines after the physical blindside flanker too copped Sam Whitelock on the chin with a reckless tackle.
The Wallabies somehow managed to go into the sheds at half-time level at 8-8 despite being reduced to 13 men, as Koroibete was shown a yellow card for hands in the ruck.
READ MORE
SWINTON BECAME FIRST WALLABY DEBUTANT TO BE RED CARDED. Rennie says he announced himself to the world
KEEPING GROUNDED: Rennie says Wallabies won't get carried away with Bledisloe win
'MIRACLES DO HAPPEN': Hodge leads Wallabies to extraordinary victory over All Blacks in crazy Brisbane Bledisloe
Hodge's second penalty after 50 minutes saw the Wallabies once again move ahead.
But their lead lasted a matter of minutes, as hooker Codie Taylor got on the end of the rolling maul and scored.
From that point on though the Wallabies slowly worked their way back into the match.
Hodge banged over his third penalty in the 59th minute to see the Wallabies cut the margin to a single point.
But it wasn't until the TMO spotted a hand from Scott Barrett at the ruck on Nic White that the match turned back into the Wallabies' favour, with the lock yellow carded.
Two minutes later and Hodge was lining up another penalty from in front of the posts and the No.10 didn't miss, giving the Wallabies a two-point lead.
Some excellent accurate play from the Wallabies saw the home side get some more territory and Tupou made the most of it, crashing over with a pick and drive close to the line to extend the lead. Hodge's conversion gave the Wallabies a nine-point lead with four minutes left.
The All Blacks rallied, scoring via Vaa'i with less than 90 seconds left.
But the Wallabies' defence was up to the task as Koroibete came from nowhere to smash McKenzie and force an error.
The Wallabies hanging on to seal a famous victory.
AT A GLANCE
WALLABIES 24 (Wright, Tupou tries; Hodge con; Hodge 4 pen) defeated ALL BLACKS 22 (Ioane, Taylor, Vaa’I tries; J.Barrett 2 con; J.Barrett pen)
