With the buzz around the Ashes still front of mind for many, it’s worth reflecting on our original national team and how it compares with our next most important, the Wallabies.
Travis Head’s heroics on Saturday underscore the significance of the rivalry with England. If he had done that against another opponent, it would have been lucky to last the daily news cycle. As it stands, hisexhilarating hundred has been sequestered into folklore. Ahhh, the Ashes. The urn is spoken of in hushed tones. We started sticking it to the Poms even before our nation existed.
The players who took the field in March 1877 represented their respective colonies. States didn’t exist. Australia didn’t exist. Of course, that all changed in 1901. Nonetheless, I think it is so Aussie that we had a team before we had a country.
The notion of a pre-Federation national team is also the story of rugby. A combined NSW/QLD team ran out onto the SCG in 1899 to play a visiting British Isles team. Just like the cricketers, they beat the old enemy in their opening salvo of a long series of battles.
A lot has passed since that fateful day on the cusp of the twentieth century. Until 2025, regardless of the woes the Wallabies may have endured, one thing had never happened – the Wallabies had never lost ten Tests in a calendar year.
When I reflect on this year, my mind turns to what lessons we can learn and how we can build for the future. I’ve always been a glass-half-full bloke. I’m sure that’s why my blood type is B positive.
The ten losses were difficult to watch, but we shouldn’t lose sight of the significance of the first Test of the Rugby Championship. That incredible comeback win over the Boks at Ellis Park would have to be in the top ten of all-time greatest Wallabies wins. The Lions series that preceded that was a close, competitive contest with as much drama as any in the history of those Tours. The November Tests, however, have been pretty well grim from go to woe.
Now that the Joe Schmidt era is over, we should take stock of what Les Kiss will inherit when he takes the reins for the inaugural Nations Championship in July.
Leaving aside the perennial navel-gazing around culture, game plan, and style of play I’d prefer to see a clear focus on the players that will make us proud at our home World Cup in 2027.
For instance, it would be nice to see an acknowledgment of Ikitau as our most important attacking weapon in the backline, and that Sua’ali’i will need more work. Equally, we should build our lineout on Frost and, perhaps, Hooper. We must settle on a front row combination. Can Tupou and Alaalatoa get through to the RWC? What position is Jorgensen best suited? And, please dear God, can we get an indication of what 9/10 combo is the best one?
But that will all play out next year. The Wallabies have come home to a summer of reflection and preparation for the Super Rugby season. They can sit back and watch the original colonial boys do battle in the Ashes, knowing their time will come. There’s no reason why the next chapter in their story can’t have a Travis Head moment.
To read more by Brian the Ruminator click here.
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