Improving discipline only way for Wallabies to end UK tour with a win against Wales

The Wallabies have one final chance to get a win on their UK tour, and star playmaker James O’Connor knows exactly what they need to get right.

James O'Connor wants to finish UK tour on a high. Picture: David Rogers/Getty Images

Wallabies star James O’Connor had a simple analogy to break down exactly what his side needs to do in order to close out their UK tour with a first win when they take on Wales.

Losses to first Scotland and then England last week have come on the back of terrible discipline and O’Connor, who is set to wear the No.10 jersey again in Cardiff a decade after he first did for the Wallabies, knows how small the margin for error is in the northern hemisphere.

“It’s the fable of the man who built the house on sand,” O’Connor said from the UK.

“If you don’t have the correct discipline and if your foundations aren’t strong, then you won’t win Test match footy, especially up here, like the margins for error are so small.

“Back in the southern hemisphere, it’s a lot quicker footy, a lot more opportunities where you can pull the trigger and really score tries. Over here you only get a couple and if you’re not ready to take those, if you’re not in the moment, playing in the moment, then you’re going to miss them.

“I think the penalty count was like 10 to 22 or something like that, so we were just piggybacking them into the game. Anytime we did build we’d lose it.”

The northern hemisphere campaign has never really got going for the Wallabies, who headed to the UK without a number of stars who helped them to five home wins in a row, including Quade Cooper, whom O’Connor has replaced in the key playmaking position.

James O’Connor is back in the middle of the action for the Wallabies. Picture: Adrian Dennis / AFP

A foot injury to captain Michael Hooper, ruling him out of the clash with Wales, has only compounded the issues for coach Dave Rennie, who has had to turn to Australians playing in Europe to boost his ranks.

O’Connor, 31, also had a less than ideal preparation, missing the Wallabies’ first eight Tests of the year because of lingering leg issues, then seeing little action against Argentina and Japan before returning to the No.10 jersey following Cooper’s controversial withdrawal.

He’s taken time to find his feet but feels he’s getting to a position to better contribute, a necessity given his position and the difference he can play in deciding a win or a loss.

“That’s the way it is, you’re controlling the troops on the field,” O’Connor said.

“From my point of view, probably Scotland was a slow start. I felt like I really probably eased into the game and probably took a little bit too long to flatten the attack up. And the England game I thought I built on that.

“This week is all about putting it together … finishing the tour on a high. We feel we have had a good year, we want to show what we can do.”