Wallabies' task to surf Sea of Red to relevancy

Perth Now

18-07-2025

Wallabies coach Joe Schmidt knows any of the ground his side's made up with the Australian public can be washed away in 80 minutes by a Brisbane red sea.
The British and Irish Lions - and an estimated 40,000 supporters - are back in town, 12 years after a one-sided Sydney decider tipped the scales in their favour.
They'll start heavy favourites at a sold-out Suncorp Stadium on Saturday, the Wallabies this week jumping from eighth to sixth in the world after their unconvincing defeat of Fiji earlier this month.
Up 1-0 in 1989, the Wallabies were rocked 19-12 in a violent Brisbane Test, dubbed the "Battle of Ballymore", before losing the Sydney decider.
In 2001 the Wallabies were world champions and, after a Gabba ambush that changed the way Australians supported their team, found another gear to win the series 2-1.
Kurtley Beale slipped attempting the match-winning penalty in Brisbane 12 years later, James Horwill's men prevailing in a similarly tight Melbourne affair before that Sydney boilover.
In 2025 the Wallabies are coming from further behind, two years ago at rock bottom when unable to escape from the World Cup group stage for the first time.
In Brisbane they're missing two of their most important players in the injured Rob Valetini and Will Skelton.
A new halves combination, 22-year-old flyhalf Tom Lynagh in his first Test start and veteran scrumhalf Jake Gordon, is another unknown.
Still, Schmidt has created some optimism following a Spring Tour that featured the arrival of flash new toy Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii from the NRL.
"We've felt a bit of a shift," Schmidt said of the public support.
"There's a bit of a groundswell and the players are conscious you need to earn that every time you lace up.
"We know that in recent times perhaps we haven't earnt that.
"I don't know which is the cart and which is the horse, but we need each other."
The cynic would say there's a reason Rugby Australia have made the historic call to emblazon the Wallabies jerseys with the players' surnames.
But unlikely captain Harry Wilson, who until last year spent seasons in the Test wilderness after surging to a debut as a 20-year-old rookie, wants to take the chance to join John Eales as a Lion tamer.
"It's something a lot of us haven't ever had," the scruffy No.8 explained to the media scrum of the build-up to the game.
"We love seeing rugby being talked about and it's come at a really good time for us."
Thousands of Lions supporters crammed into Brisbane's King George Square on Friday, singing Oasis, Neil Diamond and Queen songs as they waited for their heroes to walk onto stage.
Queues for a beer at the nearby British pub stretched out the door.
It was that Sea of Red that flooded the Gabba in 2001 and forced Rugby Australia to respond with a golden wave in Melbourne.
With plenty to prove, Wilson is adamant his underdogs are up to it and Lions star-turned assistant coach Johnny Sexton isn't surprised.
"We're just trying to put a great performance out there because that's what's going to be needed," he said.
"A great performance, not a good performance, to beat this Australian team."
Schmidt, who's coached with and against most of the Lions players and staff during his time in Ireland is smiling at the challenge ahead.
"We've had one Test match. We've got 15 this year ... we thought we'd ease our way into the year," he grinned.
"That's the magnitude of it, really."