Wallabies have flaws but are still a team to believe in

It was no surprise that France countered this with three tries of their own in the first half, but the news was still good.

We were seeing signs that the team was very close to beating the British and Irish Lions, South Africa.

But with that came disappointments.

The Wallaby line has failed time and time again, just when we needed it most. One time it was because I didn’t throw the ball straight, a seriously unforgivable mistake. (How to do Is it possible at this level?)

Then, just before half-time, the French dropped a man in the sin bin and with the Wallabies having the ball our scrum-half Tane Edmed successfully kicked towards the line. What? FROM WHERE?

At 19-19 the whistle blew and the teams went to the huts.

Despite such mistakes, the match was ready to be played!

Can we?

We were definitely capable of doing this.

But in the second half?

This time it was penalties that blew a hole in the side of the battleship Wallaby. Ten of them!

Every time we threatened the line, every time the Frenchman’s lungs screamed, his legs shook under Wallaby attacks, we awarded a penalty that took the pressure off them and put the pressure right on us.

France took advantage at the beginning of the second half, scoring a try and a penalty to take the lead 27-19, and Australia showed once again what they can do and what lethal weapons we actually have in our arsenal.

Following a superb steal from substitute hooker Josh Nasser, full-back Max Jorgensen charged down the left touchline, dribbled expertly just as the defense closed down and regrouped and headed for the corner.

To try! To try! TO TRY! A trial for your life, I’ll tell a man it is.

Edmed brought the score close to 27-26.

Unfortunately, unfortunately, just when it looked like a great historic win was on the cards and just when our guys had shown what they could do, the cards fell in the opposite direction. The formation malfunctioned again when we needed it most, this time it was overthrown and penalties paid the price.

Two French tries put them ahead 41-26 with 7 minutes left.

What did we need?

As a friend pointed out, we needed Travis Head! Or at least we needed others like him to strut onto the field with twitching handlebar mustaches. bouncerSeizing the match alone would have killed a brown dog with such a daring act.

Although back-rower Fraser McReight’s spiky beard and mustache remained a feature throughout the match as well as in the closing stages, we just couldn’t quite get his hands on it.

A miracle didn’t seem out of the question when Josh Nasser made the score 41-33 with four minutes left in the game. Our men deserved it for their efforts.

Unfortunately, more penalties ensued against the Wallabies and the French took the opportunity to score again and win the full game 48-33.

Oh what could have happened!

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Still, mock if you must, but I repeat: yes, the stats of the year suck. Yes, there are consistent flaws that persist in the Wallaby game – they know what those flaws are but they don’t fix them – but now it changes according to the salient truth.

2025 will be remembered as the year the Wallaby generation showed exactly what they can do when they do the right thing.

If they can fix the flaws (penalties, line-outs, high balls and unnecessary mistakes with the Promised Land ahead of them) and continue to push towards the 2027 World Cup, they can still run and stun and actually do something in that Cup.

Watch this space. And to believe!

Take them back home. I truly believe the best is yet to come.