Australian rugby fans are still trying to suppress memories of last Saturday night when the All Blacks unleashed an nearly historical thumping of the Wallabies in Sydney 42-8. “Of course. It’s no less important to us than them”, he said. “But that’s not going to change how much we want to win it”.
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“I’m not going to forecast anything”, said Wallabies captain Stephen Moore.
“What I would give for the coach or player who when addressing the media let rip with this kind of unprecedented truth bomb: ‘Look, we’re nearly certainly not going to win on Saturday”.
Rathbone says the Wallabies were confident going into the first match they talked themselves into the much vaunted “winning mindset”, forty-two points later reality came crashing home in the form of a record loss to the All Blacks. They’ve packed plenty of dynamite in the reserves with young guns Damian McKenzie Rieko Ioane coming into the side also, exhausted legs late in the game could be feasted on by these two.
In an effort to shore up their ranks after the Sydney drubbing, the Wallabies have brought back fly-half Quade Cooper for his first global in 11 months.
Hansen expects the Wallabies will kick more with Cooper as a second playmaker, next to Bernard Foley, in an attempt to control territory. “That’s the reality but we’re up for the challenge'”.
Despite the overwhelming majority of punters predicting the All Blacks to retain the Bledisloe Cup this weekend, Moate revealed that one of the more popular bets being placed ahead of the match was the Wallabies to be leading at half-time, and the All Blacks to be leading at full-time.
Bernard Foley will play at centre to accommodate Cooper after Matt Giteau, Rob Horne and Matt Toomua were all injured during Australia’s 42-8 Bledisloe Cup defeat to the All Blacks last Saturday.
One thing the All Blacks are interested in, however, is continuing to disturb the Wallabies’ lineout like they did in Sydney. “I think it is an area of strength of ours at the moment”.
New Zealand trained in light drizzle on Friday, however such inclement weather is expected to clear before kick-off.
Rathbone believes only Israel Folau and David Pocock would make a combined ANZAC team: “That leaves thirteen positions (not including the bench) in which the men in black have us covered for quality”.
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STOIC: Wallabies coach Michael Cheika has shrugged off criticism. We understand that what’s inside of us about wanting to win that trophy and probably New Zealand people enjoy that. “I think that’s more than evident”. They simply did not execute them, and the subsequent performance was not good enough.
