Michael Cheika says Wallabies must realise ‘every moment counts’ in Bledisloe II
AFTER suffering a third successive Sydney hammering to the All Blacks, Wallabies coach Michael Cheika says his side is improving — but they must develop a tougher mentality.
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AFTER suffering a third successive Sydney hammering to the All Blacks, Wallabies coach Michael Cheika says his side is improving — but they must develop a tougher mentality.
Yet heading to hoodoo ground Eden Park for the second Bledisloe Cup match on Saturday, Australia’s task has been made even more difficult by the All Blacks declaring they will be hungrier to win.
After losing by 35 points in 2016 and 20 points last year to the Kiwis at ANZ Stadium, Cheika’s side was soundly beaten again in the Sydney Bledisloe opener 38-13, with a woeful lineout and poor attack gifting New Zealand the ball they needed to carve up.
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“This is not what people are going to want to hear the day after the game but I know we’re making improvements in the team,” Cheika said before the Wallabies flew to Auckland on Sunday.
“I know we’ve got depth in the team, we were able to lose two front rowers during the week and still be able to put together a competitive front row.
“I see that, I do. As the coach I see what we’re building.
“But I want the short-term wins as well. I’m not going to say ‘We’re building for something’ because we’ve done that work now, we’ve got to get that mentality that says every moment counts in every game.
“Whether it’s a game here in Sydney against New Zealand, in Auckland, or in South Africa.”
But after the Wallabies nearly pulled off an extraordinary win in Dunedin last year after being smashed 54-34 last year, All Blacks coach Steve Hansen declared his side would not allow themselves to get complacent again.
“Teams that get beaten are hungrier than teams that have won, our big challenge this week is to prepare better than them and be hungrier than them,” Hansen said.
“The biggest learning thing you have to do is say that just because you are dominant on the scoreboard, were you actually dominant throughout the whole performance and the answer is no we weren’t.
“They had their turn at being really effective without building scoreboard pressure so we need to go back and recover well and make sure that Monday is done properly and then get into our work and be excited by it.”
Australia had led 6-5 at halftime but the Kiwis scored five tries in the second 40 minutes.
The Wallabies have not beaten the All Blacks at Eden Park since 1986, and defeat again on Saturday will ensure New Zealand keeps the Bledisloe for a 16th successive year.
“The job is the same, we still need to win two games,” Cheika said.
“There’s no more room for manoeuvre around ‘We can slip up here’. We’ve got to bring everything we’ve got on Saturday and let the cards fall where they do.
“Our players have got to believe in each other, believe in themselves, trust the process they build around training together.
“And what we’re going to bring, we’ll take that onto any field.
“Yes it’s true we haven’t won there for a while, but this is a moment in time we’ve got to make a decision that it’s not going to happen to us again.”
Australia’s wobbly lineout — they lost seven of their own throws — will be targeted again by the All Blacks.
“You can’t sook about it, you’ve got to get on with it,” Cheika said.
“It’s a lineout, go get it and win it, and if you don’t go get the ball some other how.
“We’ve just got to recover, forget about that and move on to the next thing.
“I still say, even with that happening, and as coach of the team I want those things to go well, we prepare for those things to go well, but even when they don’t the opportunities are still there to make the tackles and get the ball back.
“We still had plenty of ball even losing those lineouts.”
Originally published as Michael Cheika says Wallabies must realise ‘every moment counts’ in Bledisloe II
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