Bravo, you mighty Wallabies: The greatest comeback in Australian rugby history

Sydney Morning Herald

2 days ago

Here they were, up against the incumbent world champions Springboks at the infamously difficult high altitude Ellis Park in Johannesburg, a venue where the Wallabies had not won for – dot three, carry one, subtract two – 62 years! I spoke with one of the victors of that match this week, Terry Casey who is 87 years old. And it certainly looked like we were going to struggle from the beginning.
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Not only did the Springboks score a try in the first breath of the game, they kept scoring, to be ahead 22-0 after just eighteen minutes. An historic humiliation seemed possible. The South African crowd was so bored, they did a Mexican wave. Such disrespect!
So where was our own magnificent team of a fortnight ago? They were fighting for oxygen, their lungs burning, their hearts pounding, their legs heavy as wave after wave of magnificent South African athletes in the Bok jersey, kept crashing on their shores.
But did our blokes bend, break or blow up in agonised defeat? They did not!
Led by Will Skelton in the forwards, they bashed, battered, bled and FOUGHT BACK, against all odds! They tackled themselves red-raw and time and again managed to stop Bok attacks.
And when our own left-winger Dylan Pietsch went over in the corner 29 minutes in, honour was served. At least it wasn't going to be a TOTAL blow-out. Going into the break, the Wallabies were behind 22-5, and we lived in hope that maybe that gap could close in the second half.
And then?
Well, and then, friends, likely the greatest half the Wallabies have ever played, proceeded before our eyes. I cannot capture how magnificent they were, how stunning was their play, but essentially what happened is that despite the Boks knowing they had the game in the bag, the Australians played the game of their lives, and passes started to stick.
In the lineouts, our Nick Frost stole ball after ball. In the backs, James O'Connor (nearly 87 himself now) and playing his first match in three years, was a maestro conductor. Joseph Aukuso-Suaalii and Len Ikitau kept making yards in the centres as did Max Jorgensen on the wing.
But let the skipper have a go. Just a couple of minutes into the second half, Wallabies reserve prop Angus Bell held up a superb pass to Harry Wilson who ran over untouched.
Hang on, the Wallabies are actually in this, only behind 22-12! Not only that, but in the back-row Tom Hooper and Fraser McReight are pinching ball after ball from the breakdown, and the world champions are starting to doubt themselves for the first time.
And O'Connor, the very man that Campo had singled out as a hopeless choice, was imperial, constantly liberating his backs with clever passing and kicking so the Boks were constantly back-pedalling.
The cavalcade began.
First Suaali took an intercept and raced 50 metres to close the score to 22-19, then Wilson scored again after a break made by our fullback Tom Wright to put the Wallabies in the lead, 26-22!
We couldn't, could we?
We couldn't really come back from 22-0 after eighteen minutes to actually WIN the thing?
Yes we bloody well could!
With just fifteen minutes to go Max Jorgensen – him again! – scored to make it 33-22, and with four minutes to super-sub Tate McDermott went over. The crowd was by now stunned into silence, as the Wallabies led 38-22! With seconds to go, they nearly scored again!
And yes, I know, I am using too many exclamation marks for the literary taste of most. But that was what it was like!!
Bravo, you mighty Wallabies. When the days grow cold and you grow old, you can remember that match. You beat the world champion Springboks at Ellis Park, after being down 22-0 after 18 minutes. As a sole match, it was the greatest, most wonderful comeback EVER by an Australian rugby team, and it was masterminded by Joe Schmidt, and James O'Connor. So proud.
Bravo, bravo, bravo, over and out.