That’s exactly what Moore intends to do against Scotland this weekend as the Wallabies eye their third World Cup triumph. Indeed, somewhat ironically, the anomalies of the 2015 draw which has seen England evicted from Twickenham even before the quarter-finals could also produce an opportunity for the Wallabies to land only their second grand slam.
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Having lost star men Jonny Gray and Ross Ford through suspension the task is huge for the Scots. It is a position which Bennett believes suits the squad. “So yeah, let’s get into them”. The short turnarounds between matches are nothing new, but the performances of those tier-two nations who were supposed to be brushed aside by the top seeds has revealed a system that will need to change hugely before we reconvene in 2019. It had the appearance of a failed entry on the Great British Bake off – it looked okay when it came out of the oven, but after a couple of bites it collapsed into a mess. That’s what we’re trying to do. “It makes a big difference when you’re finishing them off”. If you did you wouldn’t be playing. We’ve got nothing to lose, because no-one is expecting us to do well bar the squad itself. “If we’ve got numbers up it’s just a case of picking a man off and moving the ball”, he said.
Overwhelming tournament favourites New Zealand were forced to overcome a halftime deficit to open their title defence with a victory over Argentina, while they bumbled their way through disjointed wins over lightweights Namibia and Georgia. But they only lodged the papers on Friday morning and are still waiting to be given a time slot for their hearing by World Rugby chiefs. For the teams and players, what they are experiencing now – the nerves and the pressure – will be very different from what they have been feeling for the previous four weeks. I’m looking forward to that battle. It’s a challenge for us, but I’m always up against someone who’s bigger then me so I’m used to it now.
The Wallabies showed defensive heroics last weekend to beat Wales 15-6 in a cliffhanger. Or we could go to six pools of four, with six automatic qualifiers and two fastest losers topping up the quarters.
“He was the one who gave me my first opportunity to play for Australia (against Samoa in 2005)”.
“In the Southern Hemisphere it is all about expansive and running rugby, but we knew for this campaign to go well, we needed our set-pieces, and our scrum in particular, to operate at the highest level”. You have got to get out quickly and actually get into the game.
“Absolutely. We play for each other, I think if you got a really tight team and you get that extra hour, I suppose, you might get that extra tackle when normally you might stay down”.
Past in the final 8: Ireland have made the quarter final in five of the previous seven tournaments, never getting past this stage, surprisingly.
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“I just trust he’s OK knowing that he brilliant loved ones are OK, that’s more valuable compared to rugby”.
