Fraser McReight and Joe Schmidt couldn’t hide their disappointment following their 30-22 loss to the Springboks in Cape Town, but it was a loss that showed how far the side has come in 12 months.
Hoping to replicate their Ellis Park heroics, the Wallabies were hindered by losing Nic White and Tom Wright early in the match, with Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii failing an HIA at half time.
Tate McDermott and James O’Connor also picked up ankle injuries during the match but played on, forcing Tane Edmed into the deep end with a complete backline reshuffle.
Despite this, the Wallabies came back from a 10-point halftime deficit, cutting the margin to one before a late Springbok try sealed the result for the home side, who retain the Mandela Challenge Plate as a result.
Schmidt didn’t hide how much pride he felt in his side’ refusal to back down despite their injury challenges.
“Losing both Nic White and Tom Wright, who was outstanding last week, caused a little bit of a reshuffle. That early in the game, it does destabilise you a little bit,” Schmidt told reporters post-match.
“The Springboks got away to a good lead in that first half. But I thought we were really competitive.
“I think we won the second half, not by enough to get quite back into the game, but a 23-22 lead and a conversion to come, I really felt that the players had done a fantastic job to roll their sleeves up and get back into that game.
“I was massively proud of the way the players stayed in the game after losing those guys, and then losing Joseph-Aukuso Suaali at half-time. We had young Tane Edmed, who hasn't played for us since Ireland last year, and he had to come in and play 12.
“I was delighted for them that they actually patched themselves together and were still very competitive.”
Despite on the on-the-fly problem solving, captain Fraser McReight struggled to hide his disappointment, with missed conversations and other opportunities for points left out on the field.
“It was a tough test match,” McReight added.
“There was definitely a lot of grit shown from our side, losing some key players early on throughout the match.
“It showed the quality of the squad that we have. There were some key moments that we probably lost out there.”
“I know it's a loss, but it's three tries apiece with a team that got destabilised early on,” Schmidt added.
“I think it does give belief. I think it felt like we made more line breaks, we created dangerous situations, we didn't finish them well enough and that's a credit to a Springbok side who put a lot of pressure on defensively.
“I think they had 35 kicks in play … Losing both Joseph, who's very good in the air, and Tom Wright didn't help us.
“But then it's got to give belief to Andrew Kellaway who came good back there and there's a sensational take from Tane Edmed at one stage who had to come off the bench and play 12. There's positive things that we can pick out of it and positive things that we can build on.”
One massive positive for Schmidt was the long-awaited debut of Corey Toole who shone with a try on debut, two line breaks and an unblemished defensive record.
“I thought he played really well,” Schmidt said of Toole.
“[He] took his opportunity, he was sharp to get that early try in the left-hand corner. I thought he contested the aerial game really well. I thought he carried the ball really strongly.
“He's not a big man, but he's powerful. You don't generate the sort of speed he's got without being powerful.”
Despite the loss, Schmidt revealed he had been inundated with messages of support, with the consensus online and on the ground praising his side’s resilience after it was expected the Springboks would blow them away after the loss at Ellis Park.
However, he was quick to bring the festivities back down to earth, as the side return home to lick their wounds and prepare for an Argentina side hot off their historic maiden win on home soil over the All Blacks.
“I think if people can see the effort that's going on and you earn their support, you grow the footprint,” Schmidt explained.
“I've never had so many messages of support as I've seen this week for the Wallabies.
“Last year was pretty quiet, we were trying to build our way through it. The [2024] Rugby Championship was really tough for us.
“So we'd love to think that we can measure our improvement in our marquee tournament that we play annually with a continuation of really positive performances. But our strength and depth is going to be tested.
“The guys who are experienced, they're going to have to get around the new guys who come in. We're going to have to calibrate those guys as quickly as possible, assimilate them into the group and try to kick on against Argentina in two weeks' time.”
