Ewen McKenzie says Super Rugby success is key to Wallabies winning Bledisloe Cup
EWEN McKenzie says Australia’s best preparation to reclaim the Bledisloe Cup will be to have a local side win the Super Rugby title.
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EWEN McKenzie says Australia’s best preparation to reclaim the Bledisloe Cup for the first time in 12 years will be to have a local side win the Super Rugby title.
Fresh from recording his seventh Test win in a row, the Wallabies coach now turns his attention to the All Blacks — who will be aiming for a world record 18 Test victories in succession when the in-form teams clash in Sydney on August 16 at Sydney’s ANZ Stadium.
But instead of wanting his players in camp a month out from the momentous match, McKenzie would rather see a chunk of them playing in the Super Rugby grand final two weeks prior to the Bledisloe opener.
Given the NSW Waratahs look set to claim a top-two spot — and given they supply the bulk of players to the Wallabies — McKenzie would be eager for the club he once coached to capitalise and finally claim their first premiership.
“A presence in finals would be good for Australian rugby,” McKenzie said when asked about Bledisloe Cup preparation.
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“If we didn’t have teams in the finals, we could have lots of camps ahead of the All Blacks, but I actually think it’s better for Australian rugby to have teams in the finals and going right to the end.
“That’s a better outcome for us, having players out there battling away.”
Super Rugby resumes this week with the second-placed Tahs playing a crucial match against the fourth-placed Brumbies at ANZ Stadium this Saturday, and a win would put NSW in outright first with two games remaining of the regular rounds.
“You look at the way the games have panned out, they’re a very good chance of finishing one or two,” McKenzie said of NSW.
“In the end you have to get out and get it done.
“There’s all derby games, which are potentially treacherous, you’ve got the Reds in the last game which has probably been for the Waratahs over the last 10 years a real challenge.
“You’ve got to get through those moments.
“But I think they’ve played pretty mature, pretty dominant football.
“They’ll go hard to cement a spot. If you get that one or two spot you obviously get an advantage in terms of home grounds and travelling.
“I think they’re pretty well positioned. The Brumbies are still there and the Force are chomping at the bit to make finals for the first time too.
“You’ve got to get in the finals first, and you go from there.
“Once you get in it, you’re giving yourself a chance.
“They’ve been in it before, it’s more about if you’ve got the game style. You look at the for-and-against, the sides that win the comp have generally got good attack and good defence.
“They’re pretty well positioned on both. They’ve defended well as much as they’ve scored tries.”
The Tahs presently have the best defence (245 points conceded) in the competition and third-best attack (364 points scored), giving them a differential of +119.
When McKenzie coached Queensland to the Super Rugby title in 2011, they finished with a points differential of +120 after the regular season, with the second-best attack and fourth-best defence.
McKenzie, who coached NSW from 2003-08, has fashioned seven Wallaby wins in a row for the first time since 2000, sealing the three-Test series against France with a dominant 39-13 win on Saturday.
He believes the winning streak will build confidence among his players, but said it would take much more to beat the All Blacks and win back the Bledisloe for the first time since 2002.
“You’ve got to get the tactics right, and it’s about execution under pressure,” he said.
“They will put a lot of pressure on us.
“They’re still one of the higher kicking sides, there’s going to be ball in the air so you’ve got to be able to catch that.
“They’re good tactically around those sort of moments, they’re great off turnovers, they’ve got a good set-piece, they’ve got all the fundamentals.
“We’ve seen them get out of jail a few times doing different things, pretty relentless, but we’d like to think we can get into that space as well.”
Originally published as Ewen McKenzie says Super Rugby success is key to Wallabies winning Bledisloe Cup