Wallabies’ late show won’t work against All Blacks
George Clarke |
Scrum-half Tate McDermott has warned the Wallabies their reliance on last-gasp miracles to win games won’t wash against the All Blacks.
After receiving a pre-Bledisloe Cup wake-up call following a 28-26 defeat to Argentina in Sydney, Australia will head to Auckland’s Eden Park on September 27 at the top of the Rugby Championship table with a 2-2 record.
The Wallabies trailed the Pumas 28-7 on Saturday after an ill-disciplined opening hour.
Substitute fly-half James O’Connor inspired a 19-point onslaught in the final quarter of an hour, but Australia’s late revival fell short.
A week earlier the Wallabies had staged a late comeback to claim an 86th-minute win over Argentina in Townsville.
But McDermott said the Wallabies were on a hiding to nothing if they travelled across the ditch thinking they could conjure a late win out of thin air.
“It starts with our discipline because we’ve been really clean the whole year up until probably the last two weeks,” McDermott said.
“That’s something we’ve really got to understand why that has all of a sudden come out of nowhere, and rectify that quickly.
“These two games coming up, nothing’s bigger than them.
“That game in Auckland, that’s an absolutely massive game for this side, and we can’t be giving them a 20-point lead.”
Australia will also host the All Blacks in Perth on October 4 to round out their Rugby Championship campaign.
But the clash with New Zealand at Eden Park – a venue the host nation hasn’t lost at since 1994 across 51 Tests – in the penultimate game is a massive challenge.
The All Blacks will have extra motivation after being humbled by South Africa 43-10 on Saturday, in what represents their worst-ever loss.
Under coach Joe Schmidt, the Wallabies have shown no regard for hoodoos.
On last year’s Spring Tour they knocked off England at Twickenham for the first time since 2015.
Then, in this year’s Rugby Championship they downed South Africa, breaking a 62-year drought to defeat the Springboks at Ellis Park in Johannesburg.
McDermott was reluctant to draw too much from those history-defining wins, but said it proved if they hit top gear, the Wallabies would be hard to stop.
“I think you can use that as evidence to what hasn’t been done for a very long time,” he said.
“It’s quite a different kettle of fish, really.
“But for us, as long as our minds are on us, we’ll be right.
“But if we look ahead, even at that Perth game, the result will go the way it’s gone the last 20 years.
“We’ve got to be really intentional with how we plan our week. Joe will have an amazing plan for us, but we’ve got to start putting those pieces together on the training field first.
“Twickenham, Ellis Park … they’re the things that bring belief to this side, but it’s about how we transfer that belief off the field, that’s something we’ve got to get right.”
AAP
