Wallabies sweep away the demons with revenge win over Wales

In Joe we trust. The Joe Schmidt era got off to a winning start on Saturday when the Wallabies scored some soul-enriching revenge on Wales in Sydney.

Up against the nation that humbled the Wallabies at the World Cup, and ended their tournament, the hosts steamed home with a 25-16 victory to continue Wales’ losing streak in Australia dating to 1969.

It was an imperfect performance from the Wallabies, but after the heartache of 2023, it was a perfect tonic - for players and fans alike.

A buzzing crowd of 35,945 turned up to see the Wallabies play for the first time under Schmidt, and in a stop-start game made difficult by a slippery ball and two teams in desperate need of a win, it was a sizzling Tom Wright try that sealed the deal.

After leading 13-10 at half-time, the Wallabies still held a slender 18-16 lead with 12 minutes left on the clock.

Enter Wright. After a Wales kick downfield, the Brumbies fullback counter-attacked and slipped through a tiny gap on the right edge.

Tom Wright celebrates after scoring.Credit: Getty Images

Wright raced downfield and, to the combined delight and horror of the crowd, threw in a late inside step to wrong-foot the cover defence. It worked a treat, and the Wallabies – with all of their seven debutants on the field – defended superbly in the last 10 minutes to secure the win.

“We just stretched their defence. And it was something that we’d seen even two weeks ago with the South Africans going through a similar sort of space,” Schmidt said of Wright’s try.

“And so, yeah, it was nice to see that come to fruition. And no better man than ’Wrighty” to put the hammer down and get away.”

It was the first win for the Wallabies at Allianz Stadium since 2014, and a first win over a tier one nation since beating Wales at the end of 2022.

Wallabies halfback Jake Gordon was a deserved man of the match, guiding the side from the ruck and executing Schmidt’s style of box-kicking and structured attack.

There were plenty of questions around how the Wallabies would play under Schmidt, particularly with only a few weeks of preparation. But it was clear the basics-first, well-rehearsed attack that helped Ireland climb to the top of the rankings will be the style-book for the Wallabies from now on, and Australia repeatedly turned to their pack for a ground-and-pound assault on the Welsh line. The defence under Laurie Fisher was also noteworthy, and the only try conceded to Wales was a penalty try.

Charlie Cale jumps for a lineout.Credit: Getty Images

Their first try came through Taniela Tupou after a seven-phase pick-and-drive wave, and Filipo Daugunu scored a sliding when some well-rehearsed attacking structure drew a penalty advantage and the chance to try their hand wide.

“A win is really important, it always is, because that’s what you get judged on externally,” Schmidt said of the victory.

“But internally I think just some of the moments that we did really well to earn the win, that’s what will be the focus for us this week, building into (the second Test in Melbourne).

“We have a few things that we’ve been working on that are maybe a little bit different from how teams have played in Super Rugby and so the adjustment time for that to become second nature is inevitably going to take time.”

New Wallabies coach Joe Schmidt.Credit: Getty Images

Senior statesmen like Wright, Rob Valetini and Liam Wright shone, and so, too, the cast of many impressive new faces: with Jeremy Williams getting through huge work, and Isaac Kailea showing himself as a hidden gem from the bench. Tom Lynagh nailed an ice-cold sideline conversion of Wright’s try to help keep Wales more than a score out of reach.

The Wallabies won’t be getting carried away, however, with the discipline and handling of an inexperienced Wales side mostly atrocious. It consistently released pressure on the hosts.

In what was Wales’ eighth loss in a row, coach Warren Gatland said his team was in a tough spot but bemoaned being on the wrong end of several “50-50” referee calls, and said a rolling maul try disallowed in the second half should have been awarded. Unsurprisingly, Schmidt disagreed.

But Wales’ set-pieces were dominated by the Wallabies pack, coached by Englishman Geoff Parling and new scrum coach Mike Cron.

Schmidt – who was seen belting out Advance Australia Fair – will not be pleased with the Wallabies’ discipline problems continuing, and allowing Wales to stay in the contest. They conceded 13 penalties, which is semi-standard for Australia but is five penalties off the Irish average under Schmidt.

Asked how long it had taken him to learn the Aussie national anthem, Schmidt said he’d known it for a long time, and harked back to watching powerhouse Wallabies teams in the past.

“I’m a kid who’s watched it often enough and even the fear when some of those big players played, was probably more F-E-A-R than F-A-I-R because they certainly had a game,” he said.

“And we’d love to bring the game back to something like that where our opponents are worried about us and they have to do some homework. There’s a real sleeves rolled up mentality in the group and I’m really enjoying that.”

The Wallabies play Wales in a second Test at AAMI Park next Saturday.

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