Pocock bullish about breakdown
Pocock bullish about breakdown
June 19, 2012
DAVID POCOCK has defended the Wallabies's tactics at the breakdown after Wales questioned Australia's legitimacy there yesterday.
Wales defence coach Shaun Edwards said his team would continue to press their case for clarity in the contact area before the third and final Test in Sydney on Saturday.
''We'll continue to work on [the contact area], it's something we've always prided ourselves on,'' Edwards said.
''Obviously Pocock's a threat, and I still feel a little bit that our legs are being held together when we are trying to present the ball, which obviously we'll speak to the referee about at certain times.''
Pocock defended referee Chris Pollock's performance during the Wallabies' two-point win over Wales in Melbourne, and said it was normal for the breakdown to be scrutinised after a tough and close encounter.
''The breakdown's such a focus, and the team that loses often isn't happy with how things went,'' he said. ''It all comes down to one or two decisions. To be fair to Chris Pollock, I thought he was pretty consistent.
''He was pinging both teams, and he talked a lot the whole game about players rolling away and getting to their feet.''
The Australian team flew into Sydney yesterday afternoon, and Pocock said they were ''delighted'' with the series win over Wales but knew there was work to be done to ensure they won on Saturday.
''It's great to have taken the series out with the two wins but it's a great opportunity to play some better rugby in Sydney,'' he said.
''We haven't played the best in the last two games, and we know that so we're pretty lucky to come away with the win after coughing up so much ball and giving them that one, easy try.''
The match is also the squad's final game together before the four-nation Rugby Championship starts in August. ''This is our last week together as a group and then we break for a month or so, so we see this as a crucial game in our development,'' Pocock said.
''I think laying that foundation in these four games is important. The loss to Scotland really stung us. We were very disappointed coming out of that, and I thought we did well to beat [Wales] in Brisbane.
''[On Saturday we had] a bit of luck getting out of that, so we've really got to push it and show some more attacking rugby and use the ball a lot more.''
Pocock, who will continue to captain Australia through the Rugby Championship after it was announced James Horwill would need surgery on his hamstring, said the Wallabies needed to work a lot more on their cohesion and speed in attack.
''If you watched the games over the weekend, South Africa were very physical at times when demolishing England in different parts of the field so we're aware of that,'' he said.
''It's more just working on combinations, getting a bit more flow to our game. We saw on Saturday night it was hard for us to build momentum.
''It was slow ball for long periods, so it's just being able to speed things up a little bit and dictate the tempo.''
Winger Cooper Vuna yesterday escaped suspension for a dangerous tackle in the air on Welsh fullback Leigh Halfpenny and will be available for selection in the third Test.
Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/rugby-union/un...#ixzz1yA9T6D5K
I reckon Bam's captaincy is moving along nicely.....
