After a nail-biting win over France, the Wallabies are building off the confidence of winning ugly after a tough 2020 campaign.
With the game all but over, replacements Taniela Tupou, Darcy Swain and Tate McDermott managed to cause chaos at the line-out when all France needed to do was kick it out, earning a turnover for the Wallabies.
Get your tickets now for the Wallabies three-Test series with France!
The resulting turnover allowed Australia to build pressure, eventually earning a penalty that sealed the 23-21 victory, winning what seemed to be unwinnable.
It's a stark contrast to 2020 for many Wallabies fans.
On three occasions, Dave Rennie's men had the chance to close out the game, only for the game to end in a draw.
Whilst Slipper was quick to play down their performance, he was proud of the character the side showed after quickly going down 15-0, believing it was one of the finest finishes throughout his career.
“It’s up there,” Slipper said. “At the end of the day, we got the win and that’s what we went out there to do.
“It was pretty hard on the heartstrings, it was a bit of a pressure cooker at the end but I was proud of the boys to get the result at the end of the day.
“I was really proud of the character that the guys showed. It’s fair to say we were pretty clunky the whole night with the way we played and probably weren’t playing our best rugby but we found a way and the important thing was the character we showed and the composer to re-group and take our time.
“It was an impressive play by big ‘Nella (Tupou) to put them under pressure to get that ball back. It was a good sign of character to end up with the result.”
Slipper was looking to build off their close win, believing it will be massive for their confidence heading into the final two games of the series.
“It’s huge for confidence. I’m a big fan of talking about winning and at the end of the day, we got the result and the win albeit we didn’t play that well and that’s probably the most pleasing thing,” he believes.
“Last year, we ended up with three or four draws. Winning’s that habit you want to build on and creates a bit of momentum.
“For us as a group, it was crucial to get the result of a good, hard three weeks of training. I’ve made it pretty clear that we didn’t play well, that’s clear but we got the result and have two games now and we’re going to try and win them too."
READ MORE:
RECAP: Wallabies' great escape
FIVE THINGS: Plenty to build on for Rennie
MUSEUM: RA announces Rugby museum
However, the Brumbies prop is well aware the side needs to lift if they want to close out the series in Melbourne on July 13.
He pointed to their influence at the breakdown as a key area for the Wallabies to shut down if they wish to control the contest.
“I was really impressed with their on-ball pressure,” Slipper admitted.
“I thought they attacked us really hard especially the first phase off set pieces and they got some really good results from that.
“That’s something that we definitely have to look at moving forward. They’re big up front so their presence around the breakdown was strong and I'm sure we’ll be training hard on that aspect in the coming weeks.”
