‘Reward for hard work’: Captain Liam Wright’s take on Wallabies’ win

While the Wallabies were right to celebrate their deserved 25-16 win over Wales on Saturday evening, captain Liam Wright has called on the playing group to “roll up the sleeves” as they prepare for another battle against the same foe.

As the full-time whistle sounded at Allianz Stadium, Wallabies fans at the Sydney venue let out a deafening cheer. That fateful July night have been a long time coming for the Aussies, about nine months on from their Rugby World Cup disaster.

But the dawn of a new era has arrived and the Wallabies made sure to kick things off in style. Australia looked a bit different with a new coach and captain, and also seven debutants in their matchday 23, but they showed the fight needed to win a true Test.

It was a two-point game with 15 minutes to play after Wales’ Ben Thomas nailed a long-range penalty goal. These fierce rivals have a history of hard-fought Tests and this was no different as the epically tense clash came down to the wire.

Australia fullback Tom Wright was ultimately the difference after racing away for a stunning long-range solo effort with just over 10 minutes to play. The Wallabies held on from there for the win but there’s another match to be played in one week’s time.

“It just reinforces what we’re trying to work on. As Joe said, we’re a relatively new squad so we’ve come together, we’ve tried to build a lot of connection and I think that reinforces the good things,” Liam Wright told reporters post-game.

“There’s obviously a lot to learn from and there’s learnings that we’re going to have to take on pretty quickly… it’s a lot of reward for hard work, not only the last couple of weeks but the guys getting themselves to this point.

“It’s also great for guys, seven guys on debut tonight, to be able to spend that with their families, and the preparation work that the guys who didn’t get to play this week. It just makes it a bit better going into next week.

“We’re just going to have to roll up the sleeves and go again.”

Both Wright and Schmidt walked into the post-match press conference with a smile. For a team that’s been together for less than a few weeks, the Aussies had com together and shown the very best of their character to get the result.

Schmidt seemed both proud but relieved, and the same could be said for the man sitting to the coach’s right. Wright became the 89^th Wallabies captain after leading them into battle which capped off a “special week.”

It’s been an eventful few days for Wright and the Wallabies, who focused on recovery in Coogee on Sunday before turning their focus to another clash with Cymru at Melbourne’s AAMI Park next weekend.

“It was a really special week. I worked pretty hard to get myself back into this squad and to be able to see a decent enough performance from us and see some good things that we can grow on… it was really nice being out there,” Wright reflected.

“There was a great atmosphere tonight, I think the crowd was excellent and the boys responded in kind towards that end.

“I think some really gritty defence and stuff like that. It was really special to be a part of.”