After their Bloemfontein heroics, Spiro Zavos takes a look at Australia's 'Generation Y' in The Sydney Morning Herald.
"Some years ago the ABC televised the St Joseph's College first XV in one of their traditional GPS matches. A few minutes into the game my telephone rang. "How good is he!" my son shouted down the line.
"He" was Kurtley Beale. Beale threw magical short and long passes. He made breaks. He played with the confidence and flair of a youngster bound for glory. On Saturday night at Bloemfontein against the Springboks he converted that potential brilliance into the real thing. He was an outstanding runner when the Wallabies played their finest 38 minutes for ages in establishing a 31-6 lead. Towards the end of the Test, he made a series of blunders that allowed South Africa to consolidate their unlikely lead. But with time up he banged over a penalty from the halfway sideline, giving Australia their first win at altitude for 47 years.
"Chiefly responsible for the triumph was a new cohort of young Wallabies from Generation Y: David Pocock, Will Genia, Quade Cooper, James O'Connor and Beale. According to sociologists, this generation has "high expectations of their employers, seek out new challenges, are not afraid to question authority, value teamwork, seek the affirmation of others, crave attention and want to be included and involved''."
RSS feed
