The Wallabies’ incredible rise to strike ‘fear of God' in Wales

It’s been a transformational 14 months for the Wallabies as their last result shows. Wales handed Australia a disastrous 40-6 loss at last year’s Rugby World Cup, but the men in gold have turned a corner after beating that same rival 52-20 at Cardiff’s Principality Stadium last weekend.

Former Wallabies captain Michael Hooper acknowledged the influence of coach Joe Schmidt in helping the team find their mojo once again, but the four-time John Eales Medallist was much more complimentary of the playing group who refused to give up.

When the full-time whistle sounded at Lyon’s OL Stadium last September, the severity, significance and magnitude of that result began to sink in. It was a moment this writer will never forget as thousands in attendance began to reflect in both silence and disbelief.

That record 34-point Rugby World Cup defeat for Australia left them on the brink of elimination before the quarter-finals, and that of course proved to be the case. But many of those Wallabies are still playing now, and they look renewed on the back of some memorable wins.

There’s a genuine buzz about the Wallabies in Australia right now following their 42-37 win over England at Twickenham’s Allianz Stadium and their demolition of the Welsh. It hasn’t all been smooth sailing in 2024 but their grand slam dream is still alive with two Tests to play.

“I think there’s a lot more at play. Joe and his team deserve a lot of the kudos but then the players deserve a hell of a lot as well,” Hooper said on Stan Sports’ Between Two Posts.

“What you get out of such a traumatic season like last year and what that proved is it just absolutely ignites a fire, and a bunch of players go, ‘I don’t ever want to see this happen again.’

“We’ve seen it happen with Super Rugby teams that have a really poor performance, they come back and usually the season after they have a bumper pre-season, they’re listening to everything they need to do, the coach is saying ‘jump’ (and) you say ‘how high?’

“I think that’s what we’ve seen with the Wallabies team is Joe, who’s got great pedigree, he’s got a great team, has come in and you’ve got a bunch of players willing to do the work, put in the effort, buy into this system and do it together.

“It has been a bit of a bumpy season to this point. There’s been some really good highs and then some (lows), Argentina was a really tough game, the second game in Argentina. They come through that, they see some really good minutes in performances against New Zealand.

“Now they’re over there on the other side of the world, a place obsessed with rugby, playing really good footy and it’s just changed around for them, and now everyone’s starting to get tighter. They’re believing, they’re drinking the Kool Aid in there.

“I know it sounds silly but the players are in there and everything just becomes easier, it becomes easier to turn up at training and rip in and all those things. That’s why everyone talks about ‘winning creates winning’ and all that sort of stuff, that’s what it is, just a real keenness to grow.”

Warren Gatland’s Wales seemed to be under immense pressure going into this Test as thy continued to search for their first Test win since last year’s World Cup. That’s not just a winless run against the Wallabies, but a streak of losses that already spanned 10 matches.

It was a nervy start as both teams looked to make their mark early, and eventually it was Australia fullback Tom Wright who broke the deadlock in the 12^th minute. Lock Nick Frost raced about 50 metres downfield to score soon after, and Matt Faessler also got on the board.

The Wallabies led 19-nil midway through the first term, but Wales would claw their way back by reducing the deficit to just six points at the half. With Samu Kerevi being sent to the sidelines and soon shown a red card, momentum had swung in the hosts’ favour.

But the Wallabies didn’t panic, as they instead piled on 21 unanswered points. Tom Wright and Matt Faessler both completed hat-tricks as the Australians ran in eight tries on a famous night for Wallabies run at the Cardiff venue.

 

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Midfielder Len Ikitau danced around Wales’ Cameron Winnett in the 74^th minute to score an incredible one-on-one try. With the try line about 10 metres away, the Wallaby easily danced around Winnett before celebrating the score by pointing directly at the broadcast camera.

“I think there’s a couple of ways this Wallabies team is putting fear of God in you,” Hooper explained. “It’s either Bobby Valetini, Angus Bell coming at you, or Bobby Valetini in defence, or it’s Lenny Ikitau one-on-one with 15 metres either side.

“Joseph Suaalii came on and he’s going to put some fear of God as we see him develop as a rugby player.

“That Lenny Ikitau try… it looked like an under 12s touch game, and he’s going out there and waving the wand. I’d hate to be (Cameron Winnett)… he’s fast and there was daylight between him and Lenny.”