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'Don't lose faith in us': Why Wallabies 'had a lot of belief' vs Wales
Australian try-scoring hero Mark Nawaqanitawase has praised the Wallabies’ “character and courage” after their incredible comeback win over Wales in Cardiff this morning.
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The Wallabies were down against Wales, they were losing by a lot, but they certainly weren’t out of the fight just yet.
While the Cardiff crowd burst out into a frenzy after winger Rio Dyer extended the home sides lead to an incredible 19-points – before the successful conversion – the Wallabies didn’t panic.
Halfback Jake Gordon was seen calling his team together for a pep talk, which would either make or break a team who’d fallen short in some enthralling battles this month.
Flyhalf Ben Donaldson was seen in a slow-motion replay leading the team talk, as the superstars representing their nation watched on in spirited awe – although some appeared to be in shock.
The Wallabies found their feet shortly after as Nawaqanitawase crossed for his first try of the night just five minutes later, before scoring again shortly after.
It was the start of a 26-point onslaught from the visitors, as they fought valiantly for the once improbable victory that they rightly deserve after a month of agony and disappointment.
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Speaking after the Test, player of the match Nawaqanitawase said the team “had a lot of belief” that they could fight their way back.
“Us boys had a lot of belief (that) we were right in there,” Nawaqanitawase said on the field post-game.
“Obviously a few things in the first half like discipline and a few carries that let us down but we showed enough character and courage to come back there in the second half.
“We were lucky to get the win in the end.”
It was a thrilling end to the Wallabies five-match spring tour which has delivered both excitement and disaster.
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After winning their first Test of the Autumn Internationals by one-point against Scotland, the men in gold went on to lose their next three Tests by three points or less.
Australia fell just short of what would’ve been an incredible upset win over France in Paris, before losing to Italy for the first time ever the week after.
World No. 1 Ireland survived a scare against Australia last weekend – but simply this tour has shown how much potential this team has under Dave Rennie.
“As you can see in the other games, we’ve only lost by a point to some of the top teams,” the star winger added.
“Don’t lose faith in us. I think we’ve got a strong team here. We back ourselves so we hope everyone else backs us as well.”
Prop Allan Alaalatoa, who became the Wallabies’ 85th Test captain in their history against Italy a couple of weeks ago, echoed his teammates remarks.
While the Wallabies forwards were dominated by their Welsh counterparts for periods of that match, the team “dug deep” as they ended their season on a high.
“I think the boys really dug deep there and our character has been awesome throughout the whole tournament,” Alaalatoa said post-game.
“We’ve had some close games in the past but it just feels really good to be on the winning side of one tonight.
“I couldn’t be more proud of the boys’ effort.”
Comments on RugbyPass
An on field red (aka a full red) in SRP must surely carry a bigger suspension than a red card given by the bunker as that carries a 20 minute team punishment. Had Damon Murphy abdicated his responsibility as a ref and issued both Drua players a yellow, which would have been upgraded to a 20 minute red by the bunker, that would have killed Australia and New Zealand’s push for the 20 minute red to be trialled globally from July this year.
10 Go to commentsEver so often you all post a Danny Care story that isn’t the announcement that he has finally re-signed for one more, victory tour season at Quins and I’m just like, “well you fooled me again!” My absolute favorite player ever, we need to make his final year at the Stoop (and Twickers) official already. I know he supposedly snubbed France but I won’t feel better until he signs.
1 Go to commentslate hit what late hit it wasn’t at all late and can clearly see he was committed before the tackle
1 Go to commentsChristian Lio -Willies 2 try perfomance was a standout. As was captain Scott Barrett. Up front was where the boys won it.They are a great team and players. Fantastic Crusades , you can keep going.
1 Go to commentsI don't know how the locals feel about that? I guess if you call yourselves the Worcester Wasps that might be appease. But really we need more teams in the Premiership in my view so they are not padding it out as they are at the moment. It might curtail so many players going abroad as well
5 Go to commentsNZ 😭😭😭is certainly rivaling England for best whingers cup!😭😭😭 !!!
24 Go to commentsYup. New Zealand won 3 out of 10 world cups played. SA 4 out of 8 attempts 30 Vs 50 per cent.🤔🤔
24 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.
24 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.
24 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?
10 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.
10 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.
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