Bledisloe Cup 2020: Wallabies reunite with families after months of COVID-19 isolation
The Wallabies have been given a huge boost ahead of their must-win clash with the All Blacks in Sydney, after spending months without their families in COVID-19 isolation.
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The Wallabies have been given an enormous emotional boost ahead of next week’s Bledisloe Cup match, with players reunited with their families after months of isolation.
Stars like John Eales medallist Marika Koroibete had not seen his wife or children for more than three months, after his Melbourne Rebels team was forced to relocate to NSW’s Central Coast to escape the border closures in July in order to keep Super Rugby AU going before he joined Wallabies camp.
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NSW lock Rob Simmons was able to see his wife and two young children for the first time since entering the Wallabies training group one month ago.
Fellow lock Lukhan Salakaia-Loto saw his partner for the first time in months, given she is Sydney-based and he was in the Queensland Reds team bubble during the Super season, before moving straight into Wallabies camp.
The players, coaching staff and their families had a team barbecue at their Hunter Valley base to celebrate the reunion, in a welcome return to some normality amid the COVID-19 crisis that changed the sporting landscape.
A low rate of cases in NSW has eased restrictions for the team, enabling the families to enter camp.
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The emotional boost will fire the Wallabies in their must-win match on Saturday against the All Blacks at Sydney’s ANZ Stadium.
A 27-7 defeat in Auckland, that followed 16-all draw in Wellington, has given the Kiwis a 1-0 lead in the series with only the Sydney and Brisbane (November 7) games left for Australia to win back the Bledisloe for the first time in 18 years.
A key to victory will be shutting down giant All Blacks winger Caleb Clarke, who tore their defence to shreds last weekend.
Wallabies coach Dave Rennie hinted his team will use a bomb-and-smash tactic to stop Clarke from gaining running momentum when they kick to him.
“That was part of the plan last time, he was impressive and he’s a beast of a man,” Rennie said.
“We gave him too much time on the ball. So if we are going to kick to him, it needs to be in behind him or it needs to be on top of him. That was the plan going in and we didn’t do that very well.”