Michael Cheika urges Wallabies to hit back hard after shock defeat
LEARN from the scars of ugly defeat but don’t be weighed down by them is the message being pumped into the Wallabies, who are chasing their first win in South Africa since 2011.
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LEARN from the scars of ugly defeat but don’t be weighed down by them is the message being pumped into the Wallabies, who are chasing their first win in South Africa since 2011.
The stain of Australia’s botched Test against Argentina still lingers more than 10 days after the 23-19 loss on the Gold Coast yet it can’t be a handbrake when a clear-headed, fast start is a necessity against the Springboks in Port Elizabeth on Saturday.
The Wallabies have absorbed a confronting review of the loss but the caravan of Test rugby moves on quickly.
“Sometimes it doesn’t go right … you can’t cry about it,” Wallabies coach Michael Cheika said. “It seems like there is a feeling of we are going to be scarred here (in our next Test) but that (losing) happens in rugby.
“Everyone goes through those periods where tough times come but tough times go.
“You have to be tough and understand what you can do to get on the right side of the scoreboard again. You can’t suffer it because if you do you will get beat again the week after.”
This Springboks side is the perfect example … rather than shrink away after a chastening loss to the Wallabies in Brisbane, they uncorked an epic 36-34 triumph for the ages over the All Blacks in Wellington seven days later.
The Wallabies led at halftime in last year’s 27-all draw in Bloemfontein and had ample chances as the more creative side when they blew the visit to Pretoria 18-10 in 2016 so they have had big openings on South African soil in recent seasons.
“You look at the Tests we have played here and, even in some of the Super Rugby fixtures that I have watched, our teams have good moments,” Cheika said. “Last year, we were in that Test for a lot of the game and then drifted out a bit. We have to stay in this game for 80.
“They are going to be on a high after a big win against New Zealand but we need to stay in it because never making anything easy for the opposition away from home is really important to get a good result.”
Cheika revealed there would be changes but was cagey about exactly where they would come.
Israel Folau’s roving commission as a winger is certain to continue and the midfield, well, that’s the big question.
Whether Bernard Foley wins back the No.10 jersey after two Tests on the bench is a hot topic because Kurtley Beale, for all his energy, has not been convincing in the role.
That’s really a partnership judgment because Beale and Matt Toomua have never really purred despite strong plays individually at times.
Cheika again said that dropping Foley to the bench was more about exploring what a Beale-Toomua axis might give the side rather than anything being particularly amiss with Foley.
“I don’t think that he was dragging the chain or anything,” Cheika said of Foley.
“That wasn’t the reasoning behind making the change … it was just taking a look at a different combination.
“It’s a matter of whether we want to build on the last two games with that combination with another opportunity or do we throw Bernard back in there?”
Cheika said it wasn’t so much about the faces in the midfield but the broader issue of being far better when finishing big try chances.
“We have to be a bit more clinical around our attack. We had multiple opportunities against Argentina,” he said. “If we take the personnel out of it for the moment, whether it’s Bernard, Kurtley or Matt Toomua, we have to have a more consistency about us and take those.”
Veteran prop Sekope Kepu is due into Port Elizabeth on Tuesday after staying back for the birth of his fourth child in Sydney.
Judah Paul Wesley Kepu is Kepu’s third son and, as Cheika quipped: “He’s got his front-row sorted.”
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Originally published as Michael Cheika urges Wallabies to hit back hard after shock defeat