Well, at last, a contest. Sure, the All Blacks finally found their mojo in the second half to win the game but wasn’t it a pleasure to get a game involving an Australian team where it was edge of the seat stuff?
The game was actually in the balance with a couple of minutes to go.
Now, we have all had smiles on our faces as Australian rugby has gone from one woe to the next.
We all enjoyed the 50-point drubbings of the Rebels and the Force this year by the Highlanders.
But big wins can quickly get boring.
How many fans in five years’ time are going to trot along to a game where the result is a foregone conclusion?
The game needs a strong Australia and if the Wallabies can keep playing as well as they did on Saturday night then perhaps there is light at the end of a very long tunnel.
It is a little known fact that rugby had a major presence in the state of Victoria before World War 2.
The state produced Wallabies and had a vibrant state competition.
But war got in the way, the sport never got organised early enough after the war ended and unwatchable Aussie Rules took hold.
The game cannot go the same way in New South Wales and Queensland — the two remaining strongholds of it in Australia.
The game is in disarray over the Tasman — that cannot be denied — but the Wallabies’ performance on Saturday night did present some positives.
The Wallabies are the be-all and end-all of rugby in Australia for the average sporting fan across the Ditch.
As long as they do well then the game will survive.
Hopefully, this performance will be the first refloating of the listing ship which is Australian rugby.
As for the All Blacks, they did well in patches but tried to do too much too early and paid the price.
There were a few too many holes, a few too many looks at each other and a few too many sideline shuffles.
That is what happens when a side has won by plenty the week before. The mind starts to think it can do things which it can’t.
But the side has enough class and speed to get itself into the right position at the right time to score.
There are worries though.
The bench is not what it was, the side is buckling under pressure, option taking is often poor and there is a lack of depth in some areas.
The side lost a bucketful of experience at the end of 2015 but never missed a beat last year.
Perhaps another year on and the loss of some truly great players from a couple of years ago is being more widely felt.
Question: Should TJ Perenara be leading the haka? Isn’t he the last guy you need to have extra responsibility?
Just concentrate on your game TJ and leave it to others.
