An ugly win it was … but get that into you, Eddie

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 time