'He was destructive' - The players who steered the Wallabies to a famous win in Bledisloe IV
While there’s plenty of positives for the Wallabies to take out of their famous win over the All Blacks at Suncorp Stadium on Saturday, one key combination stood out and spurred the underdogs to victory.
When Dave Rennie named his side for Bledisloe IV on the Thursday before the test, plenty of discussion followed about the new-look back three which was set to take the park. Filipo Daugunu had started on the right-wing in the first three Bledisloe’s of the year, but he was dropped for former NRL player Tom Wright, who was named for his test debut.
Interestingly as well, Tom Banks was named to return to the starting side, after being dropped for the experienced Dane Haylett-Petty in Bledisloe III. Wright and Banks were joined in the backfield by 2019 John Eales Medallist, Marika Koroibete.
For four-time Super Rugby winner Bryn Hall, the Healthspan Elite Performer of the week wasn’t just one of these players, but instead all three.
“When was the last time we saw an Australian team have more run metres than the New Zealand team? Koroibete, Wright and Banks were massive around that,” said on the latest episode of the Aotearoa Rugby Pod. “It was great to see Koroibete hold onto the ball; he held onto the ball and he was destructive.
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“Banks and Wright as well, for two guys that haven’t played a lot of test footy, the way they beat defenders and put them [the Wallabies] on the front foot was massive.
“Collectively as a back unit, the back three was fantastic.”
Echoing Hall’s comments, former All Black James Parsons highlighted the defensive effort from the back three, which was a big step up from last week.
“Defensively they did a lot better as well. If you use the 80th minute when Koroibete runs up, he rams, they get an offload off, he gets a good hit then from that offload, bounced off and rips the ball from Jordie; he did double efforts. Wright was the same.”
The panel soon focused on Tom Wright, who had a debut to remember. The 23-year-old had 92 run metres off eight runs, made three-line breaks and beat three defenders.
But the clear highlight was the winger scoring with his first touch just two minutes in.
Flyhalf Reece Hodge put a chip in behind the All Blacks defensive line for Banks to recover inside their attacking 22, before offloading the ball to the debutant.
“His first touch was a try” Parsons exclaimed before talking about the winger’s influence on the game.
What a start for the @Wallabies! An absolute beaut of a chip from Reece Hodge leads to a Tom Wright try on debut!#BledisoeCup #AUSvNZL pic.twitter.com/vYkBRYDim2
— 10 Sport (@10SportAU) November 7, 2020
“His kick coverage what I liked. The couple of times there were grubbers through and he got back and exited.
“Also when they [All Blacks] would kick long, he’d be able to catch the ball on the full so it wasn’t bouncing. As Mick Byrne always used to say, ‘if it can get two bounces, that’s a win for the kicker.’
“His attacking stuff speaks for itself but for me, the off the ball work and his ability to cover that backfield and work really well with the other two.
“He can be extremely proud of his performance. I know Rennie’s style, he’ll be liking that off-the-ball, character work that he’s been doing rather than the highlight reel stuff.”
Hall also spoke about the defensive cohesion between the back three, and how this combated the All Blacks attack.
“The communication skills between Wright, Banks and Koroibete must’ve been at the forefront because giving the guys the confident on the inside; to be able to tell them, ‘you can go’ or ‘you leave last’, those really small comms on the run that might be to the loose forward who’s on the edge.
“If you give them the confidence, they can just go whereas in the last test match due to the quick ball and probably because of a little bit of indecision, they were holding off.”
The Wallabies have a bye week in the Tri Nations following the Bledisloe Cup series, with their next test on the 21st in Newcastle against Argentina.
Listen to the latest episode of the Aotearoa Rugby Pod below or find it on your preferred streaming service.
Comments on RugbyPass
NZ 😭😭😭is certainly rivaling England for best whingers cup!😭😭😭 !!!
22 Go to commentsYup. New Zealand won 3 out of 10 world cups played. SA 4 out of 8 attempts 30 Vs 50 per cent.🤔🤔
22 Go to commentsShould've done this years ago. Change Saturday kick off times to around 11am. Up and off and back home before 3pm, limit travel time too. Allows players to actually do something else with their Saturday that's family oriented or being rugby fans they could ‘watch’ pro rugby. Increases crowds etc. How can anyone that enjoys grassroots and pro rugby have to choose between the two on Saturdays?
9 Go to commentsI bet he inspired those supporters just as much.
1 Go to commentsBen Smith Springboks living rent free in his head 😊😂
67 Go to commentsGood to hear he would like to play the game at the highest level, I hadn’t been to sure how much of a motivator that was before now. Sadly he’s probably chosen the rugby club to go to. Try not to worry about all the input about how you should play rugby Joey and just try to emulate what you do on the league field and have fun. You’ll limit your game too much (well not really because he’s a standard athlete like SBW and he’ll still have enough) if you’re trying to make sure you can recycle the ball back etc. On the other hard, you can totally just try and recycle by looking to offload any and everywhere if you’re going to ground 😋
1 Go to commentsThis just proves that theres always a stat and a metric to use to justify your abilities and your success. Ben did it last week by creating an imaginary competition and now you did the same to counter his argument and espouse a new yardstick for success. Why not just use the current one and lets say the Boks have won 4 world cups making them the most successful world cup team. Outside of the world cup the All Blacks are the most successful team winning countless rugby championships and dominating the rankings with high win percentages. Over the last 4 years statistically the Irish are the best having the highest win rate and also having positive records against every tier 1 side. The most successful Northern team in the game has been England with a world cup title and the most six nations titles in history. The AB’s are the most dominant team in history with the highest win rate and 3 world cups. Lets not try to reinvent the wheel. Just be honest about the actual stats and what each team has been good at doing and that will be enough to define their level of success.
22 Go to commentsHow is 7’s played there? I’m surprised 10 or 11 man rugby hasn’t taken off. 7 just doesn’t fit the 15s dynamics (rules n field etc) but these other versions do.
9 Go to commentsPick Swinton at your peril A liability just like JWH from the Roosters Skelton ??? went missing at RWC
14 Go to commentsLike tennis, who have a ranking system, and I believe rugby too, just measure over each period preceding a world cup event who was the longest number one and that would be it. In tennis the number one player frequently is not the grand slam winner. I love and adore the All Blacks since the days of Ian Kirkpatrick when I was a kid in SA. And still do because they are the masters of running rugby and are gentleman on and off the field - in general. And in my opinion they have been the majority of the time the best rugby team in the world.
22 Go to commentsHaving overseas possessions in 2024 is absurd. These Frenchies should have to give the New Caledonians their freedom.
21 Go to commentsBell injured his foot didn’t he? Bring Tupou in he’ll deliver when it counts. Agree mostly but I would switch in the Reds number 8 Harry Wilson for Swinton and move Rob Valentini to 6 instead. Wilson is a clever player who reads the play, you can’t outmuscle the AB’s and Springboks, if you have any chance it’s by playing clever. Same goes for Paisami, he’s a little guy who doesn’t really trouble the likes of De Allende and Jordie Barrett. I’d rather play Carter Gordon at 12 and put Michael Lynagh’s boy at 10. That way you get a BMT type goalkicker at 10 and a playmaker at 12. Anyways, just my two cents as a Bok supporter.
14 Go to commentsThanks Brett, love your articles which are alway pertinent. It’s a difficult topic trying to have a panel adjudicating consistently penalties for red card issues. Many of the mitigating reasons raised are judged subjectively, hence the different outcomes. How to take away subjective opinions?
9 Go to commentsYes Sir! Surprising, just like Fraser would also have escaped sanction if he was a few inches lower, even if it was by accident that he missed! Has there really been talk about those sanctions or is this just sensational journalism? I stopped reading, so might have missed any notations.
9 Go to commentsAI is only as good as the information put in, the nuances of the sport, what you see out the corner of the eye, how you sum up in a split second the situation, yes the AI is a tool but will not help win games, more likely contribute to a loss, Rugby Players are not robots, all AI can do if offer a solution not the solution. AI will effect many sports, help train better golfers etc.
45 Go to commentsIt couldn’t have been Ryan Crotty. He wasn’t selected in either World Cup side - they chose Money Bill instead. And Money Bill only cared about himself, and that manager he had, not the team.
28 Go to commentsYawn 🥱 nobody would give a hoot about this new trophy. End of the day we just have to beat Ireland and NZ this year then they can finally shut up 🤐
22 Go to commentsTalking bout Ryan Crotty? Heard Crotty say in a interview once that SBW doesen't care about the team . He went on to say that whenever they lost a big game, SBW would be happy as if nothing happened, according to him someone who cares would look down.. Personally I think Crotty is in the wrong, not for feeling gutted but for expecting others 2 be like him… I have been a bad loser forever as it matters so much to me but good on you SBW for being able to see the bigger picture….
28 Go to commentsThis sounds like a WWE idea so Americans can also get excited about rugby, RUGBY NEEDS A INTERNATIONAL CALENDER .. The rugby Championship and Six Nations can be held at same time, top 3 of six nations and top 3 of Rugby championship (6 nations should include Georgia AND another qualifying country while Fiji, Japan and Samoa/Tonga qualifier should make out 6 Southern teams).. Scrap June internationals and year end tours. Have a Elite top six Cup and the Bottom 6 in a secondary comp….
22 Go to commentsThe rugby championship would be even stronger with Fiji in it… I know it doesen’t fit the long term plans of NZ or Aus but you are robbing a whole nation of being able to see their best players play for Fiji…. Every second player in NZ and AUS teams has Fijian surnames… shame on you!!! World rugby won’t step in either as France and England has now also joined in…. I guess where money is involved it will always be the poor countries missing out….
90 Go to comments