Australia has never been particularly comfortable with plucky sporting losers. Eric the Eel or Eddie the Eagle would sadly not have got much work opening supermarkets here.
The closest thing Australia has to those two men is the speed skater Steven Bradbury, who famously won Olympic gold in 2002 his event from far behind after the four other finalists crashed. The Australian psyche simply cannot process any heroism in defeat.
The Wallabies’ 2-1 series defeat against the British and Irish Lions could be as close to acknowledging a brave defeat as this country comes.
To understand that statement you need to remember that Australia coach Joe Schmidt inherited a shattered organisation when he walked through the doors of Rugby Australia in March last year.
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The idea of Schmidt building a squad capable of even competing against the Lions was impossible.
The game was heavily in debt and the players were utterly demoralised after missing out on the knockout stages of the 2023 World Cup for the first time in their history under Eddie Jones.
Schmidt could have and probably should have been enjoying his retirement on beautiful Lake Taupo in New Zealand, catching rainbow trout.
When Schmidt arrived in Australia, there was a change from the man many had known in Ireland. He understood that he needed to change his intense approach that had worked in the centralised system in Ireland.
In Australia, Schmidt asked permission from the players to be direct; that permission was readily granted.
After so little structure under Jones, players relished his ability to plan for every event and talked openly about his care and interest in their lives. The coach known as ‘Genial’ Joe Schmidt was born.
Last year, Schmidt gave 19 players their Wallabies debut. Some played major roles in the Lions series, namely the talented winger Max Jorgensen who at the age of 20 is already attracting major interest from the National Rugby League (NRL).
Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii also began international life under Schmidt, transforming the former NRL star with the Sydney Roosters into an international outside centre.
The Wallabies’ depth was still stretched extremely thin against the Lions. The loss of Rob Valetini in the first Test highlighted the team’s weakness in breaking the gainline without the affable Brumbies flanker.
Schmidt had also heavily invested in the talents of outhalf Noah Lolesio throughout his tenure, leaving him to blood another one of his debutants, Tom Lynagh, for his first start for Australia in the first Test against the Lions.
History will record a flattering scoreline for the Wallabies in the first Test of 19-27, but the team was noticeably rusty after scraping a win against the dangerous Fijians in their one warm-up game.
In the second Test Australian fans had their first proper opportunity to see why Ronan O’Gara described Will Skelton as his best signing at La Rochelle. The former Ireland great was not wrong.
Skelton’s visits to play for the Wallabies are normally brief, but the Lions tour gave the giant lock the most time he has spent in Australia since he left the Waratahs for Saracens in 2017.
The Wallabies didn’t lose in Melbourne because of the lack of a penalty call on Carlo Tizzano for an illegal clean out in the final minutes – they lost because they couldn’t hold on to an 18-point lead. Irish fullback Hugo Keenan’s brilliant try was a worthy end to a classic Test match in front of 90,000 at the MCG.
The week leading up to the final Test in Sydney carried an odd feeling.
The Lions had been out celebrating on Sunday and Monday in an uncharacteristically rainy and miserable harbour city, while the Australians moped around their hotel room not saying a great deal.
There were genuine fears that the Lions were not just going to whitewash the Wallabies, they would ruthlessly humiliate them.
One of the Wallabies’ best players, tighthead prop Allan Alaalatoa, missed the final Test due to a severe shoulder injury suffered in Melbourne, which will keep him out of the Rugby Championship.
It turned out Alaalatoa had played almost a full half with one good arm and turned up in the team’s hotel to deliver an impromptu speech about what it means to wear the Wallabies jersey.
It marked a turning point for the team, who suddenly found their motivation when they desperately needed it.
Each game the Wallabies play lurches between unrealistic hope and utter devastation and that is just the media. There is a select group of rugby league journalists who are lying in wait, dying for the game to stumble and a whitewash would have been a pratfall.
In torrential rain at Sydney’s leaky Olympic Stadium, the Wallabies won the third Test against a fatigued Lions and there have been murmurs that rugby is off the life support machine once again.
Two upcoming Tests against South Africa away could just as quickly turn the sudden and rare goodwill away.
Regardless of the final emphatic victory from the Wallabies, the Lions still won the series and that achievement needs to be acknowledged.
The Lions played entertaining rugby and were well led by Ireland’s Andy Farrell, who will return to Dublin an even better coach.
The players also were rightfully celebrated by the 40,000 fans who came from Ireland and the United Kingdom to pack out stadiums across the country.
The Lions arrive in a country as guests and should be accorded great respect not only for their history and significant financial contributions, but also for the players who wear their famous red jersey.
Equally, the Lions as an organisation need to understand that their revered brand will only continue to be successful if they engage with their hosts with humility and actually live their history and traditions, not just market them.
Rugby is competing in a far too fierce a global sporting market to be protectionist. A school kid asking a question in Adelaide is not going to rumble your lineout codes.
The next tour will be in New Zealand, where the Lions will face infinitely bigger challenges on the field and off it, with a far stronger and sterner host who will not be quite so amenable to their demands. There are four years to learn and evolve.
