Hey, Wallabies, time to try something new!

Sam Bruce (0:04)

Hello, and welcome back to another edition of ESPN Scrum Reset. Sam Bruce and Christy Doran in KissCamp Studios on a gorgeous spring day here in Sydney, Christy. But there was nothing gorgeous about the Wallabies performance in Bledisloe II on the weekend. We wondered if there was going to be a response. We thought maybe in the first five or six minutes that we might see something, but that quickly evaporated in a flurry of mistakes. Then that first half, it was one way traffic.

Christy Doran (0:33)

It was.

It was deja vu, wasn't it? It just felt like it was two years ago when Joe Schmidt's side really beaten out of the blocks, and it was a similar score line. The Wallabies just had chances, didn't they, in that first 10, 15 minutes, but they didn't take any.

Sam Bruce (0:47)

They didn't, mate. You're exactly right. I think that was the frustrating thing for everyone who was there. 73,000 tick over 73,000. Great crowd Saturday afternoon.

We saw a bit of a cloud show elsewhere in the media. Comparing the TV numbers, various games with the Rugby League World Cup, neglecting to mention those crowds. We know that the Rugby League is infatuated with its crowd, with its television figures. Look, they're not great for Rugby Australia, but Saturday afternoon, 73,000. I think you're reasonably happy with how that unfolded.

Christy Doran (1:18)

Yeah, but it also neglected to say the stand numbers, which stand and don't produce their numbers, and it would be great if they did one day.

But the reality is, there probably would have been another half a million people watch it on stand, I would suggest. So, look, you put all that together, then all of a sudden, the numbers look reasonable, don't they? We know that afternoon fixtures for rugby probably don't rate as high.

Sam Bruce (1:42)

What's the trade-off? You're prioritizing boots on ground, families in particular, young kids, and to get just under 74,000 is pretty good, up from I think 65, two years ago.

Christy Doran (1:53)

Yeah, and it looked full, didn't it? And that was the impressive element. It was a beautiful afternoon. There had been so much rain earlier in the week. It was absolutely hammering it down two days earlier when I was in Attic or Coal Stadium on the Thursday and could barely get there through the flooding puddles. But it was a fantastic day. Rugby Australia got a lot right there with the Wallaroos, the quadruple header, the sevens matches where the crowd had really started to filter through at that point in time. The appreciation to Nathan Charles, who's clearly only been diagnosed over the last month or so with his MND.

The respect shown by both sides was marvelous to witness.

Sam Bruce (2:37)

It was. If you haven't seen the All Blacks' haircut and the sheds and all of his sheds for Nathan afterwards, Cody Taylor presenting him with a jersey of all the pictures of him playing against the All Blacks are really special stuff.

Congrats to both teams on that one. Mate, let's go to the game itself, 43-21. As we said, the first five or six minutes, you thought, hang on, both teams have come to play here. Quinn Te Pai gets knocked out in the second minute. That's the second midfield shuffle of the day for the All Blacks after Geordie Barrett was ruled out on match morning. So look, a bit of a few issues there for New Zealand to cope with. It didn't really worry them as it turned out, but Australia started okay. They created a couple of opportunities. If we go to the first one, get inside New Zealand's 22, a 22 entry. Look, destined to score. It had been a little bit helter skelter down that right touch line earlier. They get the ball back. They shift, build a few phases, and then they've created what is a clear four onto overlap.

The ball comes to Tom Wright, and Tom Wright throws a two-man cutout to a hooker on the wing, who is the only player marked, and five points and probably seven goes begging.

Christy Doran (3:47)

Yeah, it did, and it doesn't reflect well on Tom Wright at that moment, because that's a pretty simple catch and pass, isn't it? I think of another guy who's in that wider Wallaby squad in a jock hamble, and I think he nails that pass every day of the week, and that's the frustrating element of it. He'd done some impressive work a minute or two earlier, because if we saw how the Wallabies got up to the other side of the field, the Wallabies shuffled, I think it was a Ryan Lonegan, got on the ball, put it through the hands. A lovely offload from Joseph Kuzasuali to right there, the outback flick pass to Jorgensen, and they're already on the front foot. But that's just a moment where you've got to ask Brucey, isn't it? It sets the tone if you score an early try, doesn't it? Because we know what's coming, but they had another opportunity shortly after.