And so it all comes down to this.
After two brutal encounters, that have resulted in multiple injuries and concussions on both sides, the Wallabies and England will decide their three-Test series at the SCG on Saturday night.
In what looms as the final rugby international to be played at the ground, given the rebuilt Allianz Stadium is set to open next door in September, it is a fitting end to a series where there has been very little between the two teams.
Will Eddie Jones depart Australia beaming with pride after another series triumph, or can Dave Rennie’s men find the consistency and quality of execution they need to take the next step on the road to the Rugby World Cup?
Read on as we break down some of the big talking points for Saturday night’s third Test.
DOES THE WALLABIES BACK-ROW LACK BALANCE?
That is not a new question for Australian rugby, given former Wallabies coach Michael Cheika combined Michael Hooper and David Pocock in the same trio for much of his tenure.
But while that was a scenario that saw two natural No. 7s, or openside flankers, combine, the selection of Harry Wilson alongside the in-form Rob Valetini sees this Wallabies team run out with two No. 8s.
That is obviously offset by the fact that Valetini has played a lot of rugby for the Brumbies at No. 6, though Rennie has decided to keep him in the No. 8 jersey and introduce Wilson on the side of the scrum.
The chief concern among many pundits is that Valetini and Wilson are too similar, being natural ball carriers, and there might not be enough of the unglamorous breakdown grind being done by having both of them in the same back-row.
Rennie, for his part, played that belief down in naming his team on Thursday.
“Depends on the role at the time, but our expectation around our 6s and 8s is that they share the load,” Rennie told reporters. “At times you’ll have one carry and the other will carry after them, and we’ve got other people doing the donkey work.
“But if you look at someone like Rob Valetini, he gets through a helluva lot of cleanout, a lot of tackle. So we’ll expect plenty of energy from both those guys and they’ve got an important role to play.”
What Wilson will add to the Wallabies that Leota perhaps did not is a willingness to throw himself up as a ball-carrier time and time again.
The Reds youngster led Super Rugby Pacific for carries this season, carting the ball into defensive line on 201 occasions. Incredibly, that was 31 more times than the second-best Pita Gus Sowakula.
INSPIRED BY ORIGIN, VUNIVALU’S CHANCE ARRIVES
Suliasi Vunivalu will follow in the footsteps of Wendell Sailor, Lote Tuqiri, Israel Folau, Curtis Rona and most recently, Marika Koroibete, when he runs out for his first Test in a Wallabies jersey on Saturday night.
While his fellow NRL converts often enjoyed a serene transition from the 13-man game, Vunivalu’s path to selection, which will come off the bench at the SCG, has been littered with setbacks.
After first erring in an off-field incident, Vunivalu saw very little rugby in 2020 after picking up a hamstring injury. And then, just as he looked to be hitting his straps in 2021, he injured his hamstring again.
All in all, it had the NRL Premiership winner wondering whether his decision to cross codes had actually been the right one.
“I was actually in like a really dark place,” Vunivalu explained. “That thought came in my mind: Did I really do a right decision to come over? I just had to look at it in a positive way. It’s just a small setback. I need to stay positive.
“It’s a massive credit to myself and everyone who’s helped me throughout the process. And I’m just really grateful for all the staff at the Reds and here at the Wallabies to help me get to this stage.”
After a brutal game in Brisbane on Wednesday night, State of Origin was the talk of the Australian sporting community on Thursday morning.
While Australia nor England will want a repeat of the bruising opening minutes that saw three players rubbed out of the contest through concussion, Vunivalu said the Wallabies could use some of the Origin “intensity” as they bid to shake a bad habit that has seen them slow out of the blocks in all but a handful of the Tests of Rennie’s tenure.
“I just like watching it and just zoning in just to watch the players you played with and played against,” Vunivalu said of the Maroons’ win.
“State of Origin is a massive game here this time of the year, everyone’s just zoning to watch it and cheer for their state.
“After watching that game it just made me look forward for the Saturday game with that intensity right from the start. We’ve been lacking that with the Wallabies in the first 20 so if we can bring that up and shut [England] out then we’ll do a good job and be having a good yarn at the end of the game.”
EDDIE DISAPPOINTED IN LACK OF MEDIA COVERAGE
Eddie Jones never misses an opportunity to sneak a verbal jab in, particularly when it comes to his former employers which nowadays go by the name Rugby Australia.
Jones’ target on Thursday was the dearth of media coverage on Australian television this week, which was always going to be a challenge given the State of Origin decider on Wednesday night. When rugby league’s greatest arena is on show, everything else in Queensland and NSW is playing second fiddle – usually by the length of the straight.
Still, that didn’t stop Jones from bemoaning the lack of promotion of rugby’s own decider on Australian soil this week, the England coach taking a thinly veiled swipe at the Wallabies in the process after the hosts again only touched down in Sydney on Thursday evening, just as it had been in Perth for the first Test.
“I’ve been disappointed in the media coverage,” Jones said. “I try to watch the news every morning. And there’s nothing on it about rugby at all. As a person that grew up with rugby here that’s disappointing.
“We need rugby to be a strong sport and World Rugby needs Australia to be a strong rugby country. There’s always a battle with NRL and AFL isn’t it? We know that. We need rugby to be bit more prominent.
“So I think we’re doing our bit. I’ve been to a charity lunch today going out to coach in the community tonight. We’re trying to build the game up. 1-1 decider. There’s got to be equal effort from the other team too. That’s not for me to judge. You can judge that.”
While the Wallabies’ failure to be visible in Sydney, as it was in Perth, in the lead-up to the Test has been noted by multiple Australian rugby stakeholders, it has seemingly done little to diminish the interest in a game that will be played in rugby heartland, if not at a venue designed for rectangle sports.
Rugby Australia on Thursday confirmed the third Test was a sell-out, which should at least make for a vibrant atmosphere at the SCG if not the most enjoyable viewing experience.
CAN WE KEEP THE CARDS, TMO TO A MINIMUM?
What Origin gets right – it’s certainly not the all-in brawl that saw Matt Burton and Dane Gagai sent to the sin-bin – is its continuity, the end-to-end battle means you just can’t take your eyes off it.
Rugby is clearly a different, more intricate, game, that has a lengthy lawbook which is open to interpretation depending on who the individual with the whistle is.
But where it has become badly bogged down is the constant TMO interjections, the dreaded “check check” of every potential foul play incident that could be better scrutinised after the match.
Thinking back to Super Rugby Pacific this year, there was one stoppage that lasted close to six minutes as the TMO and on-field referee went through multiple replays on the big screen.
Who wouldn’t change the channel when that delay was unfolding?
World Rugby deserves praise for the greater focus it has put on contact with the head, but the incessant replays and stoppages in ruling on such incidents has swung the pendulum too far.
And Jones, just like counterpart Rennie, has had enough.
“We’ve gone too (far) playing it like it’s a tennis game and every decision’s got to be right,” he told reporters on Thursday.
“Rugby when it’s played at its best, and when we have the laws at the right level, we get that natural flow and rhythm in the game and we don’t have it at the moment.
“Every time we get a flow in the game there’s a stoppage and we go back to see if someone’s taken out someone — well the referee couldn’t see it, so it can’t be too bad. If it’s a blatant red card offence then we need to go back to it.”
Saturday night’s referee is New Zealander Paul Williams, who uses clear, concise communication that usually goes over well with players.
Hopefully that brings about a match that has more flow to it than the first two Tests, though expecting a match that is devoid of cards of either shade looks to be, at this juncture, little more than wishful thinking.
THIS FEELS LIKE A LINE-IN-THE-SAND MATCH FOR AUSTRALIA
There is no doubting that the Wallabies are an improved side under Dave Rennie; the silverware they have won in defeating France, South Africa and Argentina proves that.
But it is also difficult to shake the belief that they are not at the level of the four nations who sit atop the World Rugby rankings, as those triumphs listed above all came on home soil.
And a defeat to England this weekend would do little to convince not just Australian rugby supporters, but also those teams above the Wallabies on the rankings, that they can actually be a genuine threat at the World Cup next year.
Despite a raft of injuries before and during this series, if the Wallabies are to be taken seriously, this is a Test, and therefore a series, they really must win. They need to make performances like their win in Perth the rule, not the exception.
And Rennie must ram home that message before the team runs out on Saturday night.
“It’s massive, we’re well aware of that,” he said of the significance of Saturday night’s finale. “We were disappointed with last week, we’re better than that. We showed a lot of character to come back and that’s one thing with this group … a 50-22, if awarded accurately we get a five-metre scrum and maybe a chance to get our nose in front whilst Marcus Smith is still in the bin. England to their credit got down the other end of the field about five minutes later and managed to get another three minutes and create a bit of a buffer.
“We had a number of opportunities late in that game to take the last couple of minutes into an arm-wrestle; we’ve got to be better, we’ve got to be more clinical. But there’s no doubting the character of this group and we’ll fight.
“We want to be able to play and be able to kick smart when it’s the best option.”
If the Wallabies were ever to get the wider Australian community behind them, this is the moment.