Wallabies’ hopes in series decider hang on lessons of past SCG encounters

The first rugby international staged at the Sydney Cricket Ground was on 24 June, 1899. Australia wore sky blue jerseys, fielded two five-eighths and played two men in the front row. The British XV, featuring players from all four Home Nations, employed a tactic of dribbling the ball upfield at their feet in a rush. But it didn’t work. After being locked at 3-3 for most of the Test, Australia scored two converted tries in the final seven minutes to win 13-3.

According to referee, WG Gerrard, Australia won because “they kept slogging all the time. They were workers not waiters. The English forwards were waiting for chances that never came. And the reason why the chances did not come was because [the Australians] were too fast. They swept on in a body and did not allow the game to become an open one.”

The last Australia-England Test staged at the Sydney Cricket Ground was on 24 May, 1975. Australia, captained by halfback John Hipwell and coached by Dave Brockhoff, wore gold. Desperate after not having won a series in 10 years, they unleashed a calculated mayhem on an English pack featuring Bill Beaumont, current chairman of World Rugby, and won 16-9 on the back of a “step forward” philosophy built on forward power and never backing down.

“Our game plan should be built on the security and foundation of disciplined forward play. Then we can run,” Brockhoff thundered before the series. “Give me big tight-five men up front, a rangy lock and two good flankers and you’re in business. Play it tight, work to get into their half, then we have the basis. Once you get up there, run, but only when it is good ball.”

With the Ella-Mobbs series deadlocked at one-all and local rugby fans desperate for results, Michael Hooper’s Australians