Wallabies make it three out of three after surviving Georgian scare

After defeating a determined Georgia 40-29 to secure the Wallabies’ third successive Test victory of 2024, coach Joe Schmidt confirmed the audition process for the Rugby Championship has finally closed.

Schmidt has embarked on a short and sharp crash course in Australian rugby, being forced to experiment so that he could restore confidence and depth in the Wallabies squad.

There were seven debutants in the first Test against Wales, five changes in the second, and then 17 positional shifts in the last Test against Georgia in Sydney on Saturday.

The coach has been with his squad for just under a month and has achieved his primary output of three victories. Now he faces a far greater challenge, with the first Test of the Rugby Championship looming against South Africa in Brisbane in three weeks time.

“It’s certainly the audition over, because I don’t think we can be as loose with the ball to get it ripped off us and probably give up some tries that we’re disappointed with, so I think going forward to the Rugby Championship, we’ve learned a little bit more about the players,” Schmidt said.

“We’re very much a tight coaching group, so I can’t speak for all the coaches at the moment, we haven’t had time to have a good look at the game, but whatever decisions we make will be based on three games and three and a half weeks of training.”

“But I’m also realistic. I’ve been doing jobs similar to this for a long time and the thing that you realise is that things do take time and building combinations takes time, building a game model that that people become familiar with and automate the actions that are required does take time.

“But you know, we’re out of time. We’ve got to be able to deliver against South Africa, which is a whole different level obviously.”

For the third post-match press conference in a row, Schmidt cut a noticeably relieved figure, after watching his side fighting hard for victory against a determined Georgia side that threatened to achieve the greatest shock at an Australian Test venue since Samoa won in 2011 in Sydney.

The record books will record the Wallabies’ fourth successive Test victory – the first time they have strung four wins together since 2021 – after dispatching Georgia by 11 points in Sydney, but their second-half meltdown will perhaps live longest in the memory.

As ever with the Wallabies, it wasn’t straightforward. Winger Filipo Daugunu was red-carded shortly before half-time after his attempted charge down went wrong and he collected the Georgian winger in the head with his knee while in the air.

Darby Lancaster enjoys the victory against Georgia on his debutCredit: Getty Images

Daugunu had his yellow card upgraded to red, but thanks to a World Rugby trial during this Test-match window, the Wallabies were only down to 14 men for 20 minutes. That probably saved them from a historic defeat.

After Fraser McReight’s excellent try from a rolling maul on 39 minutes gave the Wallabies a 16-point lead at half-time, Schmidt’s minutely detailed game plan completely unravelled in the next chaotic 40 minutes.

The Wallabies conceded two rapid-fire Georgia tries through Tornike Kakhoidze and Akaki Tabutsadze within the first six minutes of the second half, which set off the well-used panic stations in Australian rugby.

In the first half, the Wallabies had impressed the strong 26,139 Sydney crowd with a much-improved performance, both in their attacking and defensive mauls.

Harry Wilson on the charge for the WallabiesCredit: Getty Images

The Wallabies had matched up to their Georgian opponents physically and with five minutes gone, they faced their first major test of the afternoon: facing the famed Georgian scrum.

The pack held firm, providing the perfect platform for Len Ikitau to link up perfectly with a sweetly timed pass to his centre partner Hunter Paisami to crash over the line for the first try.

The Georgians were always going to set a stark physical challenge and the Wallabies were determined to match it, through physical ball carriers such as Rob Valetini, who pirouetted over for the Wallabies’ second try early in the first half.

Schmidt has been determined to invest in research and development during his early tenure as Wallabies coach. He knew he needed to explore new combinations ahead of more testing fixtures in the Rugby Championship against South Africa next month.

The coach has unearthed a new hope at loosehead prop in Isaac Kailea, who scored his first try on his first start after a sniping run from halfback Tate McDermott.

Second-rower Mikheil Babunashvili pulled a try back for Georgia, but after a Wallabies try from a rolling maul shortly before half-time to make it 26-10, it looked like the crowd would enjoy a comfortable win.

Demur Tapladze of Georgia charges forwardCredit: Getty Images

The Georgian second-half renaissance was brutal and left the Wallabies looking vulnerable in defence and sloppy in attack.

Wallabies five-eighth Ben Donaldson struggled in the No.10 jersey, never looking comfortable with his opportunity. The Force playmaker looked nervous in possession and his kicks out of hand lacked their normal depth and accuracy. Donaldson’s performance leaves Schmidt with more questions than answers on who should be the next Wallaby playmaker.

“Both guys [Donaldson and replacement Noah Lolesio] who played tonight and Tom Lynagh the three guys, they are working hard,” Schmidt said. “For them there’s a lot of expectation because they tend to drive the game, so they have a pretty busy week.

“And one of the things that as coaches our responsibility is to just to lighten their week so they can get their skill repetitions in.”

“There was a few kicks tonight that we know can be better, we’ve seen them kick them better and hopefully that’ll be demonstrated in three weeks time [against South Africa].”

At times of strife, the Wallabies have often been forced to look to their back row for inspiration and so it was the case in Sydney.

The Georgian comeback was largely curtailed by the combination of Valetini and McReight who each scored their second tries to keep the Wallabies in a game they were absolutely in danger of losing.

The Georgians hadn’t finished toying with the Wallabies, who had completely lost their confidence from the first half, with winger Tabutsadze getting his second try of the night.

The final siren finally sounded to an audible sigh of relief in Allianz Stadium, with the Wallabies finishing July with three victories, but a huge amount of work ahead of the visit of the world champions South Africa.

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