Some rugby Tests produce poetry, romance, chivalry, death-defying derring-do, displays of scintillating skills that sheer take the breath away – and stories that will be told and retold for decades to come.

Other Tests are like this ’un.

On a wet pitch in Tokyo, the seventh-ranked team in the world, the Wallabies, had a good hit-out against the 13th-ranked team, the Japanese. Both teams were valiant and gave it everything they had. And the match indeed had its . . . moments.

But when the days grow cold and we grow old, this is not the match that will be endlessly talked about.

The closest thing to romance, occurred shortly after kick-off when the newly installed skipper, the wonderfully named Nick Champion de Crespigny – whose debut as a Wallaby was only three Tests ago – made his timely debut try, crashing over to the left of the posts after a weaving run that went for at least seven centimetres. (When he grows old, he can be forgiven for turning that into seventy metres, under the circumstances).

Wallabies stand-in caption Nick Champion de Crespigny leads the charge against Japan.Credit: AP

New centre Josh Flook scored his own debut try 20 minutes later, after great work by five-eighth Tane Edmed and fullback Andrew Kellaway “chiming into the back line”, as we........

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