Wallabies win on the right side of violence
It's been a while since they've been there - right on the edge, sometimes over it and always in the Lions faces - but Saturday night was the statement performance of the Joe Schmidt era.
It also felt like a message to the Lions committee, to those of us in the media whose default position with Australian rugby can sometimes be doom and gloom, to the teams currently ranked above the Wallabies, and to those casual Wallabies supporters who might have fallen off the bandwagon.
The message was: never turn your back on Australian rugby. Yes, there will be bumps on the road ahead - two Tests in South Africa are next - but the Wallabies won four halves out of the six in this series.
Come on Ronan, free Willie
The particulars of Will Skelton's contract with La Rochelle in France have always seemed to be - how can we put this diplomatically? - quite favourable to the club over country. It appears that Rugby Australia will now have to negotiate with the French to have Skelton play in the Rugby Championship, even though it is a bona fide World Rugby release window.
Perhaps La Rochelle coach Ronan O'Gara will be sympathetic to Schmidt's cause. O'Gara has previously declared an interest in the Wallabies job, and no doubt the past two weeks have increased the appeal of that role. But it might be time for some back scratching first.
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