SYDNEY – Australia are heading into their third Bledisloe Cup clash with New Zealand on Saturday confident they only need to make a small number of tweaks to their performance to keep the series alive.
The Wallabies need to win the clash at Sydney’s Olympic Stadium, which is also the first game in this year’s truncated Rugby Championship, to send the series for the symbol of trans-Tasman supremacy to a decider in Brisbane on November 7.
Dave Rennie’s team were unlucky to finish the first game in Wellington with a 16-16 draw before the All Blacks rebounded in the second to notch a 27-7 win at Eden Park.
“We know what the standards are and they dropped from the first week,” flyhalf James O’Connor told reporters at the team’s training base in the Hunter Valley, about 270km (170 miles) north of Sydney, on Monday. “We know what we’re capable of.
“Across the board there just needs to be little improvements and be more efficient.
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“It’s just little tweaks.”
The Wallabies missed some 40 tackles in the loss at Eden Park, while some of the kicking - so lethal in the wind and rain in the first game - was misdirected in Auckland. The Australian team also failed to put as much pressure on the All Blacks’ counter attack as they had in the first clash.
The All Blacks scored two quick tries, and three within the space of 15 minutes, at Eden Park and Wallabies scrumhalf Nic White added they were confident that was probably the only real difference between the two sides in New Zealand.
“In two games, three of the four halves we have done really well,” White said. “That fourth half, yeah we missed tackles and let in a couple of quick tries.
“Your confidence will take a hit, but it hasn’t taken a huge hit. We know that we can get back there.
“Are we good enough? Yeah we are. The confidence is there that we can do it, 100%.”
Reuters