A Wallabies upset in South Africa no longer seems so fanciful

Sydney Morning Herald

4 days ago

The Wallabies squad announced on Thursday had some big inclusions: Will Skelton and James O'Connor.
Granted, they were already part of the British and Irish Lions series but their employers are in Europe and that has not always made it easy for the Wallabies. Their selections felt like victories and the fact they are heading to South Africa speaks volumes about what is going on inside the Wallabies camp at present: it's evidently a rewarding and stimulating environment.
There will be frustration that they didn't get the job done against the Lions but a belief that they are building something. Players obviously want to be part of that, and the desire from numbers 1-23 to run through brick walls in Sydney in the third Lions Test is all you could ask for before two Tests against the Springboks in South Africa.
The world champions are heavy favourites, and their fans will be expecting nothing less than two comprehensive wins, but even the most pessimistic, here's-another-false-dawn Wallabies supporter should acknowledge that there was something stirring in that Sydney victory.
There are other elements to encourage guarded optimism as well. One savvy Herald reader made a great point to the column this week, raising the idea that Joe Schmidt's Wallabies were like Dave Rennie's Wallabies but with far better discipline, and that stats show Australia 'won' the penalty count against the Lions in the first two Tests, and drew the third one.
That is a surefire sign that the Wallabies are now fully dialled in to the coach's demands, because a low penalty count was a trademark of the successful Schmidt era in Ireland. By contrast, poor discipline undid so much of the other good work that was happening under Rennie.
Another factor has flown somewhat under the radar, but might become relevant in the land of the Bomb Squad. Tate McDermott's performance on the wing in the second Test was exceptional, and obviously something the Wallabies had been planning with their 6-2 bench split.
Occasionally, the Reds halfback went into full Lomu mode, running over defenders, and it is already well established he has the pace to play on the edge. McDermott's performance will give the Wallabies comfort they can go again with a 6-2 split, loading up the bench with weapons such Lukhan Salakaia-Loto, Tom Hooper, Langi Gleeson and Carlo Tizzano, or at least three from that quartet.