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Wallabies must learn to win when playing poorly
England celebrate their win over Australia in their 2nd Rugby Union test match at ANZ Stadium, Sydney, June 19, 2010. (AAP Image/Dean Lewins
We’re a week away from the start of our Tri-Nations campaign and under no illusions about the step up in terms of level of intensity that is required when compared to what we experienced against Fiji, England and Ireland. After the Ireland Test in Brisbane, we had two weeks of pretty tough training in our home states and club rugby for most of the guys in the team.
There was a big focus on strength and conditioning and I think this will help lay the platform for what will be a very tough Tri-Nations.
Reflecting on the inbound series, I think we have continued to move in the right direction.
A lot of younger guys got their first taste of rugby at that level – guys like Rob Horne, Ben Daly, Salesi Ma’afu, Saia Faingaa, Matt Hodgson and James Slipper.
It’s a huge honour to wear the Wallaby jumper, and earning your first cap is a special moment.
One that you won’t forget.
There are many challenges adjusting to the intensity of Test football, and as we saw in the first game against England with the scrum, it’s a steep learning curve and one that we have to climb quickly.
I’m confident we will.
The loss to England in Sydney was hugely disappointing, and a poor game. Yet it was a game that I think would be fair to say we probably just did enough to win – but let it slip away.
Champion teams like the Crusaders, the Bulls or the Melbourne Storm (even though they might have lost their trophies), in the years that they won their respective competitions, often just scraped through games where things don’t go to plan to take the points on offer.
In games where they didn’t play as well as they usually did, they still managed to find a way to win.
I think that is the next step as a team: to find the way to win when playing poorly. And I’m sure it comes with much pain, reflection and improvement after losses.
We understand that the Australian rugby public are frustrated, as we are, and expect results sooner rather than later. So it’s exciting to have eleven more opportunities this year to repay the faith of supporters and offer up performances they are proud of.
The first game between the Springboks and the All Blacks looked pretty brutal.
New Zealand stuck to very simple tactics and simply focused on getting over the advantage line and generating quick ball – making the South Africans chase rucks, which didn’t allow them to get into their rhythm. It will be interesting to see what changes in the second game.
The squad has been in camp in Sydney this week and we have a day off over the weekend (with a number of guys also playing club rugby) and then meet up as a squad on Sunday in Brisbane to prepare for our first Tri-Nations game at Suncorp Stadium on Saturday night.
http://www.theroar.com.au/2010/07/17...laying-poorly/
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