Last night was a sporting festival rarely seen. You had a prime time World Cup match between the Socceroos and the seventh-ranked French team, Australia taking on England in the cricket, and a feast of Rugby League and AFL.
But it was the match between the Australian and Irish Rugby Union teams that Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull settled in to watch with wife Lucy. And he wasn't pleased with what he saw.
Mr Turnbull is understood to have been so frustrated by those lame up and unders and box kicks that the Wallabies persisted with, that he spilled his glass of Malbec in a furious chastisement of the tactic. He vented to the Tribune about what he saw.
"Yes it is not the narrow loss that infuriated me. I can handle the occasional Wallabies loss. Heavens above. I'm planning on watching us play the All Blacks this year for goodness' sake. It's those horrible kicks I can't stand. Rugby is supposed to be a thinking man's football code. But there's nothing smart about those insipid kicks."
And there may be some merit to Prime Minister Turnbull's assertion. Nearly every time the Wallabies had the ball, someone would kick it up in the air. Without exception, the Irish team would catch the ball about 10 metres from where it was kicked. We pretty much gave them the ball every time we had it.
Mr Turnbull is understood to have been on the phone to Julie Bishop before the match had even finished. While Bishop is more of an AFL girl at heart, Turnbull successfully articulated the problem to her, and she eventually agreed that an urgent cabinet meeting is to be convened. Turnbull will strongly advocate for a referendum to be held as to whether those crap kicks should be outlawed entirely.
The move has been heavily criticised by Opposition Leader Bill Shorten. While Shorten also detests those rancid kicks, he warns against legislative intervention.
"Yes it's a stupid tactic that offers very little for the Aussie fans to cheer about. But where does it end? Do we legislate against Dawn Fraser or Bernard Tomic speaking in public because of the drivel that tends to come out of their mouths? Do we lock up soccer players who act like they've been shot? No. We didn't legislate against Rugby League kicking duels in the 80s and 90s and we certainly shouldn't intervene here. If it hurts them on the scoreboard, that should be enough of an incentive."
We'll find out whether anything has changed when the deciding test match kicks off on Saturday at Allianz Stadium.