We want you to decide what your favourite moment of Australia’s World Cup campaign was. We’ve narrowed it down to five final options to make it a bit easier.
1. Bernard Foley’s quarter-final winning penalty
Anyone who could actually watch this moment was a brave person indeed. Australia’s tournament looked over after a Scotland intercept try in the 72nd minute of the game, and the subsequent conversion, put them two points in front. The Wallabies were awarded a penalty in the final minute to overtake the Scots. The rain fell and the Ice Man took a handful of breaths as many watching held theirs, including his halves partner Will Genia. He booted the goal and the rest is the proverbial. No one will forget that in a hurry.
2. Tevita Kuridrani’s Rugby World Cup final try
The Wallabies’ character shone through in the back end of the World Cup final. A David Pocock try off a rolling maul put them back in the hunt. Then came a pin point accurate Will Genia chip, collected by Bernard Foley, who offloaded to Tevita Kuridrani with only space in front of him. The bullocking centre beat everyone to the line in a score that ultimately narrowed the margin to just four points. That move put plenty of hope in Australian fans about the future of their team.
3. Matt Toomua’s try against Uruguay
In the biggest win of the tournament to that point, Australia ran in 11 tries. But Toomua’s was particularly spectacular. The tenth of the match, his flyhalf Quade Cooper pulled off a trademark step, beating Los Teros and setting up fullback Kurtley Beale for a one-two with Toomua. The latter dove over the line, giving the Wallabies one of their tournament highlights.
4. Ben McCalman’s try-saving tackle against Wales
Australia found itself two men down in the final quarter of their pool match against Wales, defending its own line for almost 10 minutes. Wallabies back rower Ben McCalman put in an enormous effort during this time as Australia held out the Welsh. McCalman held up winger George North over the line, preventing a score in a critical point of the match. Had they not put in such a herculean effort, Australia may well have found their knock out stages looking altogether different.
5. Adam Ashley-Cooper’s hat-trick against Argentina
Adam Ashley-Cooper reinforced his reputation as a finisher in the Wallabies’ semi-final against Los Pumas. The 31-year-old found himself on the end of two superb linking plays, collecting passes from Bernard Foley and Matt Giteau, before a blistering run by his opposite wing Drew Mitchell in the 71st minute set him up for the third. It made him the only Australian to score two Rugby World Cup hat-tricks and brought him just three tries shy of second-placed Chris Latham (40) in the all-time Wallabies’ try-scoring list.
