Andrew Slack: Gutsy Bledisloe win eases pain on horror 2017 for Australian rugby

IT hasn’t been a stellar year for Australian rugby, but if you’re given the choice of a good start and a bad finish, or the reverse, I’ll take the good finish any day, writes Andrew Slack.

Marika Koroibete leaves Sonny Bill Williams in his wake.

WE can all agree that 2017 hasn’t been a stellar year for Australian rugby, but if you’re given the choice of a good start and a bad finish, or the reverse, I’ll take the good finish any day. You want fresh memories to be pleasant ones and despite the upcoming European tour still to confirm their continuing improvement, the Wallabies have made a decent down payment on a summer of contentment for rugby fans.

That they could have lost Saturday’s Bledisloe Cup encounter in the last minute suggests they have to be better at nailing opportunities though, because the truth was they were a 15 point better team than the World Champions.

Marika Koroibete leaves Sonny Bill Williams in his wake.

The All Blacks aren’t renowned as go-to panic merchants but such was the pressure the Wallabies applied both with and without the ball, the composure of the boys from across the sea took a night off.

Sam Cane, Waisake Naholo and Ofa Tu’ungafasi each gave away game-changing penalties in the second half, all on the back of a Wallaby team that wouldn’t take the foot off the pedal.

In fairness to both sides they each tried to play footy in difficult conditions, and while it could be argued the Wallabies actually tried to play too much in the opening half-hour, their skill level finally caught up with their faith in each other, and the result they so desperately wanted came to fruition.

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I’m not certain our backrow combination is a perfect one, but if you marked them individually, Michael Hooper, Sean McMahon and Jack Dempsey might just have been the difference between winning and losing.

That thought might be ludicrously unfair to Israel Folau, but poor old Israel is just so consistent in his brilliance that you can sometimes take him for granted.

In the first half-hour of the match, the All Blacks were superior in their counter rucking and counter attack. Thanks to Hooper, McMahon, Dempsey and Folau, the Wallabies countered the countering for the next hour and the scoreboard justifiably reflected it.

I have to admit, when looking at the respective benches before kickoff, I felt this was where the All Blacks might have the edge. May I offer sincere apologies to Lukhan Tui for even thinking that. Not often you’d consider a thirty minute contributor for man of the match, but I reckon he got himself into the discussion. For the Reds-leaning Wallabies supporters, his performance might have given some optimism for Queensland’s Super Rugby fortunes next year.

But the Wallabies are what matter at the moment and with a pack looking more solid with every outing and a backline with the individual threats posed by Folau, Kurtley Beale and Marika Koroibete, patient and loyal supporters have finally been given some reward.

The Wallabies’ forwards didn’t take a backwards step all night.

Two questions though. If Beale didn’t have an injury niggle why was he replaced in the final ten minutes when the game had to be won?

And while he keeps producing in general play, Bernard Foley remains far too iffy a proposition as a goalkicker. Reece Hodge can kick them from sixty metres. Surely, he can work hard at his goalkicking so he can slot them for thirty as well.

In the meantime, Australian rugby can celebrate the best Wallaby performances since the 2015 World Cup.

A diehard All Black fan sent me a text straight after the match. “Too good” it said. Too true.

Originally published as Andrew Slack: Gutsy Bledisloe win eases pain on horror 2017 for Australian rugby