High praise for Wallabies debutants

Wallabies veteran has praised the performances of three debutants in tense draw against All Blacks.

Hunter Paisami was dangerous on debut for the Wallabies Picture: Getty Images

It was, James O’Connor remarked, a mixed bag in the changeroom, where Wallabies delight with the performance of their three debutants and the achievement of Michael Hooper in reaching his 100th Test cap co-existed with the despair of not breaking their losing streak in New Zealand.

Yet, if the truth be known, few Australians genuinely believed they would trouble the All Blacks. Their last meeting with them on NZ soil ended in a 36-0 thumping, one of a long line of hideous defeats in that woeful run of 23 straight losses on the other side of the Tasman. And after a little bit of coaxing, even O’Connor was starting to find grounds for optimism.

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“You’ve got to start somewhere,” he said. “The guys fronted up and we really put our bodies on the line. The one thing you can say is that we did not misfire. We probably overplayed our hand a little bit at times. The changeroom was a mix bag because there were quite a few debutants and we are very proud of the way they performed and there was Hoops’ 100th cap.

“It was an interesting game and the momentum constantly shifted for the last eight minutes. But we are not content. That’s not the right word. We are very hungry. A lot of the guys would like to play at Eden Park tomorrow.”

Instead they will have to wait until next Sunday for their return bout with the All Blacks but in place of the dread which not so long ago characterised the Wallabies’ approach to meeting with New Zealand, now they are eagerly anticipating the rematch.

Certainly it helps when they have a player like O’Connor playing with the authority he did yesterday. This was the James O’Connor that Robbie Deans was hoping to see when, against all expectations, he passed over Quade Cooper and thrust O’Connor into the playmaking role in 2013 against the British and Irish Lions. It was a move which has haunted O’Connor throughout his career but all the demons were exorcised when he played with such purpose as he did, never more so than when he set up winger Marika Koroibete for Australia’s opening try.

The pity was that, having kicked the penalty goal that put Australia into the lead in the 74th minute, he was not given the opportunity to kick the field goal after the bell after Reece Hodge’s monster shot at goal from 60m had bounced off the uprights. The Wallabies retrieved the ball but before O’Connor could call for it, Australia handed over possession.

“James O’Connor dropped back, but I’m not sure what happened there around communication but we ended up going a bit wider and turned it over; opportunity lost obviously,” Wallabies coach Dave Rennie said.

Still, as much as Australia was celebrating it’s 30-year-old playmaker, it had ample cause to also celebrate the performances of debutants Filipo Daugunu, centre Hunter Paisami and blindside flanker Harry Wilson. All three played exceptionally and Rennie was delighted with their performances.

O’Connor drew special satisfaction in the debut of Paisami.

“I thought our defence was pretty good and I thought this man here (patting Paisami) made some hits which swung momentum,” O’Connor said.