A year ago, Matt Giteau thought his only appearances at this stage of the Rugby World Cup would involve speaking engagements as a paid pundit.
He beat the odds to make it as a player, and has had a big impact on Australia’s run to the knockout stage.
On Sunday, there were four minutes to fulltime in their quarter-final against Scotland when the bulk of the rugby world expected Giteau and Co to be making an exit at the tournament.
Not Giteau, who was voted player of the match in his 100th Test as he helped the Wallabies to a last-minute, 35-34 win over Scotland that was settled on a late penalty.
“We showed a lot of character at the end. Personally, I’m just happy we survived another week,” Giteau said on Wednesday as Australia prepared for their semi-final on Sunday against Argentina.
“The 100th cap was good,” he said. “The man of the match award should have gone to someone else in our team.”
Giteau was dropped before the 2011 World Cup, where Australia lost to hosts and eventual champions New Zealand in the semi-finals, and spent the next four years in international exile while he played for Toulon in France.
He was recalled this season after Australia’s selection regulations were amended to allow senior foreign-based players to be eligible for Test selection and played the eight Tests he needed to reach the 100 milestone.
At 33, there is no guarantee Giteau will play Test rugby again after this World Cup. So when an intercept try gave Scotland a surprising 34-32 with five minutes remaining, the veteran utility knew composure was needed.
“We take a lot from the way we regrouped, how calm we were,” Giteau said. “We were able to get down their end and apply pressure. We took a lot of confidence out of that.”
Argentina took a lot of confidence from their 43-20 win over Ireland earlier the same day in Cardiff, shocking the Six Nations champions with expansive play and racing to a 17-0 lead after 12 minutes.
Giteau has played Argentina only once, at the 2003 Rugby World Cup. Australia were knocked out in the 2007 quarter-finals before getting a chance to play the Pumas, who finished third, and he did not make the trip to Argentina during this year’s Rugby Championship.
However, he has closely watched the progress of the Pumas.
“Every World Cup, they’re very good. Whatever they do, they always seem to peak in these tournaments,” Giteau said.
“They’re incredibly dangerous — you saw what they were able to do to Ireland and how far they pushed New Zealand in the first game,” he said.
“Every round they’ve been really good. They’ve blown teams away quite easily,” he added.
Giteau has extra motivation to return to the final because, for a long time, he thought his last experience of a World Cup knockout match would be the 2003 decider, when he came off the bench in the extra-time loss to England, decided on Jonny Wilkinson’s dropped goal.
“I thought I’d be doing a couple of speaking gigs to get a bit of cash,” Giteau said when asked if he thought a year ago he’d be in the Rugby World Cup semi-finals. “It’s just been an amazing ride for me this last six months.”
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