Mistakes abound, but Wallabies’ win provides plenty of satisfaction

August 8, 2026 — 11:00pm

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Get that up yer, Eddie.

The Wallaby win over Japan in Osaka was satisfying on a dozen levels at once.

Most importantly, of course, is the fact that it was indeed a WIN, a victory if not a triumph, but that rarest of breed in recent times, a (W) next to the Wallaby name on the scoring ledger as the final whistle blew. And it was terrific that it came in the first match of new Wallaby coach Les Kiss’s tenure.

But right up there in terms of satisfaction was that it was against a side coached by Eddie Jones, who in fact was negotiating to take that very position while having carriage of the Australian team in the 2023 World Cup. The result was that our side was a complete shambles, and he left behind the smoking ruins of what might have been.

But here, three years later, our blokes registered a small payback against a Japanese side good enough to have easily defeated Italy and even threatened Ireland in recent times.

The win to the Goodies,........

© The Age