Rugby World Cup: Tim Horan reveals his Wallabies’ hit list for Test against Uruguay

TWO-TIME World Cup winner and Wallaby legend, Tim Horan, picks a hit list for the Wallabies to follow in their Test against Uruguay in Birmingham.

Australia's head coach Michael Cheika takes an Australia team training session on September 21, 2015 at the University of Bath, south west England, ahead of their opening Rugby World Cup 2015 match against Fiji on Wednesday. AFP PHOTO / MARTIN BUREAU RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE

TWO-TIME World Cup winner and Wallaby legend, Tim Horan, picks a hit list for the Wallabies to follow in their Test against Uruguay in Birmingham.

REACT TO UNUSUAL DEFENCE

Uruguay will be a bit like Argentina, their close neighbour, and that means their defensive structure isn’t normal. They will rush up, play man-on-man defence and occasionally drift. But it will always be a very vicious line and it’s always very unstructured as well. So while you run at training against opposition and have a fair idea where the defence is and who the defence is supposed to take, it doesn’t happen against Argentina and Uruguay.

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The Wallabies must be prepared for Uruguay’s unstructured defence.

New Zealand weren’t given any room at all by Argentina so you have to be ready to try and create your own room by decoy runners, sharp hands at the line or pick-and-drives early on to bring some defenders in.

EARN THE RIGHT TO GO WIDE

When you play these sort of teams you really have to earn the right to go wide. You have to get across the advantage line first. We have seen the Wallabies going wide very early in recent games. The first play against the USA and the first play against Fiji last week. So they may change that. They may think against a side like Uruguay you have to shown them respect and make sure you have a strong, efficient start. Even though it will be a different team against England the following week, you have to get that mindset under way and determine how you want to play. And you’re not going to take it wide in the first play against England.

KEEP TEAM-FIRST FOCUS

With the chance to push a claim for selection against England a week later, there may be the potential for someone to go solo and try and to impress. I don’t think that will happen. I’ve had a good look at the team and had a chat to Michael Cheika in Cardiff, and there really does seem to be a good vibe among the team.

Michael Cheika at Wallabies training.

Sometimes people say that and there’s not really, but I sense a good vibe. There is a belief in this team and they trust each other, and trust the guy next to them. That’s a very important thing. I rate it as the biggest ingredient for us when we won in 1999. We trusted everyone the team to do their job and do it well. There were no selfish players there. I don’t think we will see people chasing personal ambition over team ambition. They will know if they perform well as a team, that’s the best case you put forward to coaches for selection.

KEEP SCRUM TALK POSITIVE

Another strong scrummaging performance will be important, not just to win the game but to keep perceptions of a good Wallaby scrum going ahead of the England match. The perception element works on two fronts: it is not just the perceptions externally, but internally as well.

With another good performance, the Wallabies can continue to believe in their scrum and the work Mario Ledesma is putting it place. Uruguay will be a tough opponent upfront, so that’s a good challenge. Even those Wales put 50 on them, they had a competitive scrum.

QUADE TO TAKE CONTROL

I am a very big fan of Quade Cooper and enjoy watching him play. He is taking his play to another level in Test matches. He has been brilliant in Super Rugby but at Test level he has struggled to grasp the different way to play at the higher level. But I am really looking forward to seeing how he has developed being around Stephen Larkham for the last few months. His game management will be crucial for the Wallabies in a game where it might get scrappy and not flow smoothly. He’ll look to play some with width but he must also be prepared if he needs to bring it in tighter, control the game and get your forwards into the game.

Originally published as Rugby World Cup: Tim Horan reveals his Wallabies’ hit list for Test against Uruguay