This morning or afternoon or evening depending on where you live saw Australia bounce back and win the 3rd test against the British And Irish lions 22-12. Last week during the 2nd test the signs were there that the Wallabies were improving even though the lost the game in the 80th minute 26-29. Many were predicting a white wash and I am happy the Aussie team proved them wrong.
During the 1st test the Lions won the big moments and the final score of 27-19 kind of flattered the shoreline because it actually felt much bigger. No one gave the Aussies any chance mainly as the team has been in the doldrums for the last 10 years and are languishing in 6th place with regard to their world rankings. Just last year in September the Wallabies had slipped to 9th spot so it is good to see them turning a corner which will hopefully see them challenge again in the top 3.
When you add all 3 scores from the test matches the difference between the British and Irish lions is only 1 point so this highlights how close the entire series was. The Aussies have been improving week on week and there has to be some confidence coming though.
What is interesting to note is the Wallabies only had 1 more up game prior to the British and Irish Lions series which was against Fiji seeing them sneak home 21-18. Hindsight is always a good thing to see what could have been and there must be some regret that the team was not ready for the first test. The need to be battle hardened and ready for the physicality of what was to come is of huge importance and want looks like now to have what let them down.
The planning for a test series is as important as the test series itself and this looks like they missed a trick here. The British and Irish Lions had all the warm up games leading up to the test series and during the test series. Yes there is a chance of players picking up injuries but it also allows you to select players in form and finally in game 3 the Wallabies seem to have found their strongest combinations. The selectors should have known this long before the series started and the only positives are they now know their strongest team.
The Aussies head to South Africa next with another daunting prospect of facing the Springboks in two back to back tests away from home. South Africa will not be under cooked for these games even though they have played matches against lesser nations in their build up. The SA squad is big enough to have matches against themselves and have multiple replacements of the same quality in every position.
I do think the SA team will not take the Aussies lightly as they have proven themselves that they are a competitive team and are rebuilding. The hope is they can move into a higher gear as world rugby needs a strong Australian team because they have been missed.