Melbourne – For the second straight week, the Wallabies got out of jail. A week ago, an obstruction at the maul stopped Wales’ momentum dead in its tracks just as they looked like they were set to blow past these fragile Wallabies. In Melbourne, a dodgy lineout in the 74th minute left Warren Gatland red in the face as their miserable season finished on a dour note after a ninth straight defeat.
Even the sprinklers tried to rub it in Wales’ backsides, with a rogue waterspout disrupting their team huddle on the middle of AAMI Park as they tried to take something from their eighth loss of the year. Had Evan Lloyd found Christ Tshiunza at the front of the lineout, with Wales trailing by five points and sniffing yet another rolling maul to help put them in front, it may well have been different. Instead, they will head to Queensland searching for something to take into their European summer as they take on the Reds in Brisbane on Friday night.
While Gatland has tour matches and another three years to prepare for the 2027 World Cup, his New Zealand counterpart Joe Schmidt doesn’t have the same luxury of blooding youth and waiting for it to blossom. Schmidt has just 12 Tests to find the men to not just be competitive against the British and Irish Lions but beat them. They’re coming from a long way back.
After opening up a 17-0 lead against Wales after 26 minutes, the Wallabies should have been able to put away Gatland’s side easily. Josh Nasser celebrates with Filipo Dau.