Wallabies coach Les Kiss prides himself on having every detail covered when preparing his teams.
asserted
detail → pride → teams
Ahead of facing the Springboks in Perth on Sunday night, Kiss had challenged his side to work on contingency plans, such as losing five-eighth Ben Donaldson while not having an experienced playmaker in reserve.
asserted
Kiss → face → reserve
That would have been a simple scenario to deal with compared to what actually took place.
asserted
what → deal → place
Ultimately, nothing could have prepared Kiss or his team for the 10 minutes and 30 seconds of madness that ended the Test match against South Africa.
uncertain
that → prepare → Africa
The Wallabies led by 25 points before yellow cards to Harry Wilson, Ryan Lonergan, Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii and Hunter Paisami left the team with 11 players against the world champions.
asserted
cards → lead → champions
Here’s how the Wallabies hung on and won the Test.
69th and 70th minutes: 18-point lead.
asserted
Wallabies → ’ → minutes
Wilson and Lonergan yellow cards
Wilson had enjoyed one of his best Test performances until referee Andrea Piardi gave him a yellow card for a high tackle on South African hooker Malcolm Marx.
asserted
Piardi → enjoy → Marx
Wilson was his team’s top tackler, making 13 and not missing one.
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Wilson → make → one
Marx dipped late, and Wilson made glancing high contact.
asserted
Wilson → dip → contact
He left the field with just over 10 minutes left on the clock.
asserted
minutes → leave → clock
With Wilson absent and the Wallabies pack weakened, South Africa took full advantage a minute later.
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Africa → weaken → advantage
The Springbok scrum was metres away from the Australian line with centre Hunter Paisami packing down in Wilson’s place.
asserted
Paisami → pack → place
Lonergan dives at the ball illegally while South African back-rower Jasper Wiese has it at his feet.
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Wiese → dive → feet
A penalty try is awarded, and Lonergan is off the field for 10 minutes.
asserted
Lonergan → award → minutes
Kiss later said the team remained calm amid these scenes.
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team → say → scenes
“We were asking a lot of questions about what was happening; we were trying to get messages down the sideline and just get an idea of where things were,” Kiss said.
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Kiss → ask → idea
“The pleasing thing for me was that the group out there on the pitch there was a nice calmness and focus about what they had to do next.
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they → be → what
Hearing that back and seeing how they looked and felt in those tough moments, that’s incredibly pleasing.
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that → hear → moments
Suaalii yellow card
The Wallabies are tired, with spaces opening up all over their defensive line.
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spaces → open → line
Springboks playmaker Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu charges through a gap and passes to centre Canan Moodie, who looks certain to score a try.
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who → charge → try
Fullback Tom Wright yells for cover, and it comes.
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it → yell → cover
Donaldson and Max Jorgensen manage to mow down Moodie.
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Donaldson → manage → Moodie
Wright believes that the team was playing completely on instinct.
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team → believe → instinct
“We were just trying to bust ass,” Wright said.
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Wright → try → ass
“I think when you’re down, and there is no real plan, it’s about how hard can you hustle and make it as difficult for the opposition to score as possible.
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opposition → think → ?
That’s what we were talking about and trying to execute when we didn’t have the ball.
asserted
we → ’ → ball
Suaalii is yellow-carded for offside, leaving the Wallabies with 12 men on the field.
asserted
Suaalii → card → field
Piardi is having to use a mobile phone to speak to television match official Matteo Liparini due to communication problems.
asserted
Piardi → have → problems
He explains to Wallabies stand-in captain Jeremy Williams and South Africa skipper Andre Esterhuizen the difficulties he is having with the technology, pleading that he is doing his best.
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he → explain → best
After the game, Williams had every sympathy for the officials.
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Williams → have → officials
“The refs had a really tough job; they obviously had problems with the radios and things like that, so they did the best they could while they were out there, and I don’t envy that job at all, they did an awesome job,” Williams said.
uncertain
Williams → have → job
Two minutes later, Morne van den Berg scores a converted try for South Africa, pulling the score back to 42-31.
75th minute: Down to 11 players, leading by 11.
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Berg → score → 11
With just 12 teammates, Wright took a gamble, shooting out of the line and catching a pass from Esterhuizen.
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Wright → take → Esterhuizen
The fullback finishes under the posts, thinking he has sealed the game for the Wallabies, but Piardi’s blue mobile phone comes back out.
asserted
phone → finish → Wallabies
After a quick review, the try is rubbed out after a high tackle from centre Hunter Paisami, leaving the Wallabies with 11 players on the field.
“That’s how it goes, isn’t it?
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it → rub → field
We said we wanted to make it difficult for them.
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it → say → them
We knew that they needed to score points and wanted to run,” Wright said.
asserted
Wright → know → points
“We said if we were to concede a little bit of space anywhere, they were going to have to go around us.
asserted
they → say → us
“We were hustling, showing that care and connection that we talked about during the week.
asserted
we → hustle → week
The ball fell favourably for me; sadly, a high shot was the call that we came back to, and we had to go from there.”
asserted
we → fall → that
…and 15 more, not listed.
The Aporia
