Wallabies to rely on internal training clash, not a warm-up game, to prepare for Bledisloe Cup
THE Wallabies will stick to their pre-Bledisloe Cup formula ahead of the opening game against the All Blacks in Sydney. But the same tactic backfired horribly in the corresponding fixture last year.
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THE WALLABIES have no plans to play a pre-Bledisloe warm-up game and will rely on an internal possibles-probables clash to prepare them for the All Blacks.
The first Bledisloe Cup clash in Sydney will be a historic evening with Rugby Australia announcing the August 18 match at ANZ Stadium will be preceded by a Wallaroos-Black Ferns Test; the first double-header on Australian soil.
But if more history is to be made this year by Australia winning the first Bledisloe Cup since 2002, the Wallabies realistically must beat the All Blacks in Sydney for the first time since 2015 and then pick up a second win in Auckland or Japan.
Playing the Kiwis first-up at ANZ Stadium as part of a RA deal with the NSW Government has proved tough going.
Last year was particularly brutal when, off a cold start, the Wallabies conceded 40 points in the first half before losing 54-34.
Contrastingly, the All Blacks tune up for the first Bledisloe Cup game in a “game of three halves” against provincial teams, and they will again play Canterbury and Otago on August 10.
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Some Wallabies players and assistant coaches saying last year a warm-up game had merit but coach Michael Cheika doesn’t share the belief and it’s understood the Wallabies will stick with a full-contact, possibles-probables clash at training 11 days out. It is not a full game.
Wallabies captain Michael Hooper said a warm-up game against a Queensland club team pre-Lions series in 2013 was no help because they were too dominant.
“Our players ran through them relatively easily and it doesn’t prepare you what you are going to face in the best team in the world,” Hooper said.
“Can you find a team that’s going to give you a really strong hitout, and be able to test your shape? I am not sure, and how you are going to fit that scheduling wise. You have guys who have already played a full season of Super Rugby, with a couple of Tests thrown in the mix there.
“The bodies are good to go. Maybe it is a bit of hard training against each other. I am not sure what the actual formula is.”
Based on recent history, the formula for success is clear enough. The Wallabies have shown they have the capacity to beat New Zealand — including last-start in Brisbane — but their five wins over the All Blacks since 2007 have all come when they have played one or more games beforehand.
Asked if something different was needed given the run of losses in Sydney, Hooper pointed to 2014’s 12-all draw when many Waratahs players only came in a week before. NSW won the 2014 title, after beating the Brumbies in the finals. Australia lost that series, too.
The danger of relying on finals action in the current, Kiwi-dominated Super Rugby competition is a majority Australian players may not be play for month prior to the first Bledisloe Cup.
Hooper said the “ideal” situation would be as many Aussie teams playing finals for as long as possible.
After a 0-4 weekend for Aussie teams, pessimism is creeping back but Hooper said Australian rugby shouldn’t drop its bundle after one bad round.
“We have to build resilience. One loss doesn’t define your season, one loss doesn’t mean you’re a bad team,” he said.
Hooper dead-batted talk of Israel Folau’s recent furore, and when asked about Steve Hansen backing TJ Perenara’s tweets, the Wallabies captain said: “That’s what a coach does.”
Hooper denied Wallabies players were scared to speak up on the Folau issue.
“I think there has been quite a bit said and a lot of people have said their part,” he said.
“We are talking about getting his hamstring right. I have said my piece on that stuff. He is moving forward to get back on the field.”