Wallabies coach Michael Cheika was left asking fans to keep the faith after their second consecutive three point loss to European opponents on Sunday morning. The Wallabies went down 26-23 to Ireland in a see-sawing battle that left many fans wondering if Cheika has enough time to mould his Wallabies squad together before next year’s Rugby World Cup. Despite clearly identifiable positives in the performances of Matt Toomua, Nick Phipps, and debutant winger Speight, the Australian rugby public will still be questioning the make-up of their best side as well as looking for reasons why the Wallabies always seem to finish on the wrong side of close games.
On one end of the spectrum was the Nick Phipps try; a culmination of brilliant handling, clever offloading and committed support play. But this was matched with general sloppiness when they fell 17 points behind early. Yet, the fight back from that deficit was an encouraging aspect of the match, featuring some of the Wallabies best rugby of the tour.
The scintillating comeback saw the Wallabies respond to the 17 point Irish head-start with 20 unanswered points. Three long range tries featured in the burst that make up most of the positives the team will take away. The Wallabies will also take some satisfaction that they were not completely destroyed at set piece. The side already has a soft reputation with teams thinking they can overpower them comfortably. A similar performance would have been catastrophic to their future chances. Instead, the forward pack were brave, staunch.
Unfortunately, World Rugby Player of the Year nominee Jonathan Sexton kicked well from both general play and at goal to ultimately resign the Wallabies to another end of season tour loss. This time though, losing to the best team in Europe (one that is unbeaten in seven matches and will go into the Six Nations as favourites) won’t feel as bitter as losing to the inconsistent French.
The Wallabies need to bounce back quickly. They have only five more matches to play before the Rugby World Cup. A win against England at Twickenham this weekend will certainly help the confidence.
