Tough Wallabies start to believe Grand Slam dream

Sean McMahon has praised the Wallabies’ mental fortitude as they head to Ireland chasing the Grand Slam.

Australia’s Sean McMahon is tackled by France’s Jean-Marc Doussain at Stade de France

Tough backrower Sean McMahon has praised the Wallabies’ mental fortitude as they head to Ireland seeking to win their fourth straight Test and set up a Grand Slam decider in England.

McMahon was a standout as Australia defeated France 25-23 in a thriller in Paris, and said the squad had galvanised after enduring a number of tough losses earlier this year.

“As a team when you’re in a losing locker room and you all sit down and you start thinking about how much it hurts, I think we’ve just built throughout the year and said, ‘That’s it, it’s time for us to step up and it’s all about battling to the very end’, so we’ve finally bought into that and we’re all fighting,” McMahon said.

“We don’t care what the score line is, we’re just having a crack and not stopping.”

If Australia can defeat Ireland, they will head to London knowing victory over England would deliver them their first Grand Slam since 1984.

Ironically, it was England’s historic 3-0 series win against the Wallabies in Australia earlier this year that sparked McMahon’s fire to turn the tide.

“Personally it would have been after the England series and I think all the boys probably — I can’t speak for them — but I think we all had to pull through as a team and come together and get tight,” McMahon said after victory in Paris.

“When you go into the locker room after a win like that when every bloke has had a crack right to the very end, you look at that last minute of play, all the boys were trying to be disciplined and just get the ball back and work so hard. You look at (halfback) Nick Phipps, come on down the end and he just puts an absolute sprinting effort in to put that last charge down (attempt of Camille Lopez’s missed field goal after fulltime).

“He might not have got it but it still put pressure on and that’s what we want in this team — everyone just having that last minute effort to do whatever they can to take a win.”

Debutant Kyle Godwin declared he was ready for regular Test football after an impressive first outing for the Wallabies.

Godwin spent much of the game at first receiver in attack while also being heavily involved in defence, making 12 tackles in a notable debut performance.

Wallabies coach Michael Cheika heaped praise on Godwin after the match, but the playmaker is eager to improve.

“Cheik spoke to me before the game and he just said make sure you don’t second-guess yourself,” Godwin said.

“There’s lot of areas for me to work on, I just can’t wait to get back on the training field on Monday.

“I definitely felt like I can play at that level but there’s a lot of areas for me to improve on.

“He shook my hand (after the match) which is a good thing from Cheik so if he’s shaking your hand and looking at you in the eye then you’re all right.”

Cheika was most impressed with Godwin’s efforts in the tense final quarter of the match.

“For a debutant to come out and play 80 minutes with a late change in a playmaker next to him — he stood up,” Cheika said.

“He made plays, he didn’t sit back and not make play. He got to about 65 minutes and it probably started to get to him; ‘I’m in a Test here, it’s tight, I’ve never been here before’, and he really stood up and got involved.

“I felt like he stayed in the game. He made a decision where he was going to stay in the game and try and win the game as opposed to just being a part of it which would be absolutely normal I imagine in such a big atmosphere.”

Godwin got his chance after Cheika decided to rest his new first-choice No 12 Reece Hodge, who is set to return against Ireland on Saturday despite pressure from the newbie.