Make no mistake about the magnitude of this past seven days...it’s the Wallabies’ most significant series win over a major nation in a decade.
This may be The Rugby Championship but back-to-back victories over the World Cup champions from South Africa constitutes a series within a series.
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Losing series against Ireland in 2018 (2-1) and England in 2016 (3-0) in recent years had eroded the Wallabies’ proud record on home soil.
Not since the Wallabies won both Tests against South Africa in 2011 in Sydney and Durban have the men in gold won such a clearcut decision over a major southern hemisphere rival.
So what did we learn at Suncorp Stadium?
1 THE QUIET EMERGENCE OF LEN IKITAU
We’ve been waiting to see centreIkitau have a breakout game in gold and this was it.
He used his sharp little prop-and-step to go on the outside of the tackle of Handre Pollard for the first try and gobbled up Marika Koroibete’s backhanded pass for his second.
There was a classy tackle in there too when it had to be made. He is a smart foil to the blockbusting Samu Kerevi, who keeps showing more to his game.
That excellent offload to Pete Samu and earning that penalty at the tackle in the closing minutes were superb.
2 QUADE COOPER’S HAS SHADES TO HIS GAME
Cooper’s willingness in defence was the standout feature. He made excellent tackles on Willie le Roux, Damian de Allende and Makazole Mapimpi.
That’s what the attritional nature of this Test required for long periods and Cooper was up to it.
You can talk up Taniela Tupou’s big run, the Koroibetebackhanded pass or the Tom Banks inside ball for the second Ikitau try but it was Cooper organising and creating the depth off the first pass which was just as important.
This is a serious return to Test rugby at flyhalf. Two 80-minute efforts after no games since late April is five-star stuff because he’s shown no hint of fatigue.
3 LACHIE SWINTON
There were some seriously tense seconds when the crowd and TV viewers were sweating on whether flanker Lachie Swinton was going to cop a red or a yellow card.
The first contact was shoulder-on-shoulder and was the mitigating factor that saved him from a red.
You can debate it all you like about that sort of tackle earning a medal 10 years ago and a card in 2021 but that’s where rugby is.
Swinton needs to work on lowering his tackle height rather than be an upright bull at a gate. Until he does that, he is always going to be a potential liability for the Wallabies or Waratahs.
4 SUNCORP STADIUM
That’s 10 wins in a row at Suncorp Stadium for the Wallabies when their record worldwide over the same period is much closer to 50 per cent.
More than 35,000 roaring fans right on top of the action, a fast deck and the positive vibes of the stadium really make it the favourite home venue for most of the Wallabies.
5 CONSISTENCY
Rugby fans have been crying out for it. Back-to-back wins is a major plus and the forwards producing again was a big part of it.
Michael Hooper celebrated his captaincy milestone with the victory he deserved. He produced a fine forced penalty when he got his hands on the ball to save a situation in front of his posts late in the Test.
“The criticism for us had been we clocked off after 40 minutes and allowed 10-15 minutes to really hurt us. We’ve been on for it for the majority of the time against South Africa,” Hooper said.
“I’m very proud of everyone.”
The pack’s strong showing again was reflected in the man-of-the-match performance from prop Taniela Tupou.
His smashing run to ignite the chance for the second try was superb and his crowd-pleasing right-handed pass for the Marika Koroibete try changed the face of the Test. That was on top of securing the scrum for nearly the full Test.
Hooper agreed: “Big Nela had the complete game for him. Rolling out 75 minutes as a tighthead and impacting the game for 75 minutes is pretty impressive the world over.”
