The guns were loaded: Wallabies digest what went wrong
Justin Chadwick |
Wallabies fullback Tom Wright has revealed his team opened up and faced the music following last week’s second-half implosion against New Zealand, but insists the match has left no mental scars.
The All Blacks made it 12 wins in a row against their arch rivals on Saturday with a clinical 50-19 thumping at Eden Park.
It meant the Bledisloe Cup, which has been in NZ’s grasp since 2003, will remain that side of the ditch for at least another year.
The Wallabies arrived in New Zealand brimming with confidence despite knowing history was heavily against them.
That confidence was further fuelled as the Wallabies pushed to score a go-ahead try early in the second half of Saturday’s blockbuster.
But 26 consecutive points from the All Blacks killed off the contest, and left the Wallabies with plenty to ponder.
Saturday’s re-match in Sydney will give Australia a chance to atone, and Wright revealed there had been some open and honest conversations in the wake of the defeat.
“The group came together Sunday morning, faced the music a little bit, had some small conversations before we reviewed it thoroughly (on Monday),” Wright said.
“No one wants to be on the receiving end of 50 points. No one wants to be on the receiving end of a loss.
“At 17-14, we were right in the contest, and the game was there to be taken. We squabbled a couple of chances.
“It’s a moment by moment game. You can look at the big flashy stuff, but really it’s just the nuts and bolts of the little moments in front of your nose.”
The Wallabies entered Saturday’s match on a six-game unbeaten run and full of belief following their recent win over world champions South Africa in Perth.
But beating NZ is proving to be a tricky task, with the Wallabies’ last win over the All Blacks coming in 2020.
Wright said Australia entered last week’s game with a winning mentality despite recent bilateral history.
“We knew the opportunity was there for us. We felt like all the guns were loaded, and we had the ammunition to fire shots to win the game,” Wright said.
“We didn’t. That’s the music that I was talking about.
“The narrative will always be around we haven’t got our hands on the Bledisloe Cup for some time now, we haven’t had a good win against them … in my time here as well.
“If I had the golden egg answer, it’d be pretty handy to have. But I certainly don’t think there’s any mental scars.”
Saturday’s fixture is part of a quadruple header rugby event, with the Wallaroos taking on Scotland, the men’s Sevens side facing Fiji, the women’s Sevens side taking on NZ, before the Wallabies and All Blacks face off.
Star Wallabies centre Len Ikitau has been ruled out of the match due to concussion, while his most likely replacement Jordan Petaia is also unavailable after injuring his ankle at training last week.
Hunter Paisami is still suspended, while influential lock Josh Canham (hamstring) and centre options Josh Flook (Achilles) and Treyvon Pritchard (ankle) are all still out of action.
Winger Corey Toole and centre Kadin Pritchard have been called into the Wallabies’ squad as cover.
AAP