After suffering a crushing defeat to the Springboks, the Wallabies have moved on from that result and are focused on ending their 20-year Bledisloe Cup drought against the All Blacks.
After claiming a 28-17 win over South Africa in Adelaide, Australia came off second best in most departments in the replay as the Boks sealed an emphatic 24-8 victory in Sydney on Saturday.
“We’re pretty disappointed. It’s a tough loss, we got a bit out-enthused there and didn’t make the most of our opportunities,” said Wallabies front-row Scott Sio.
“We lacked a bit of physicality… we’ve got to take the time to swallow that pill and review next week and try and move forward as a group.
“For us, it’s about making sure we’re clear when we are next back in as a group. The next couple of days gives us time to review as an individual and group so we’re clear how we want to move forward as a group and grow as a team.”
Lost two key players
The opening half-hour was evenly contested but the Wallabies suffered a double setback when Hunter Paisami and Noah Lolesio were forced off due to concussion. That meant there was chaos in their backline as the Wallabies opted for a six/two, forwards/backs split on their bench and replacement scrum-half Jake Gordon was forced to come on as a wing.
That showed in their game as they failed to take their chances and the Boks eventually sealed their win when Makazole Mapimpi crossed for their fourth try in the 72nd minute.
Despite being frustrated by his team’s inconsistent display, full-back Reece Hodge refused to use the disarray in their backline as an excuse for the defeat.
“It’s not ideal to lose your 10 or 12 but we prepare for those scenarios so that’s no excuse,” said Hodge. “You prepare for worst case, not best, I’d like to think everyone knew their role and were pretty clear on what we needed to do.
“The first half was not bad, the inaccuracy at the breakdown cost us. That period from 40-60 (minutes), we allowed them to get on top of us.
“I don’t think we can blame a couple of injuries for how we played.”
The Wallabies will now regroup and aim to recapture the Bledisloe Cup with their first match against the All Blacks set to be a midweek showdown in Melbourne on Thursday, September 15.
To win the Bledisloe Cup for the first time since 2002, Dave Rennie‘s men have to win that encounter and beat their trans-Tasman rivals at Eden Park in Auckland on Saturday, September 22 as well.
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The All Blacks are on a high after bouncing back from a 28-15 loss to Argentina in Christchurch to claim an emphatic 53-3 victory over Los Pumas in Hamilton on Saturday. With all four teams still in the running to win the Rugby Championship title, the Wallabies are up for the challenge of reclaiming the Bledisloe Cup.
“New Zealand obviously had a big win over Argentina, so they’re going to be very confident and it’s going to be a big challenge but one that hopefully we’re up for in Melbourne,” Hodge said.
Not surprised by All Blacks’ response
“We’ll look at New Zealand over the coming couple of weeks but (the 53-3 win) didn’t surprise me.
“We’ve had a few more Tests (than previous years before the Bledisloe) and the beauty of the Rugby Championship this year is each team can beat anyone on their day.
“We’re going to have to go in with some serious belief that we can beat the All Blacks in Melbourne and get the Bledisloe campaign off to a good start.”
“It’s always an exciting Test, you just have to look back over the years Wallabies have had some classic matches there so we always look forward to facing the blokes across the ditch,” Sio added.
“It’s one of the toughest assignments to beat New Zealand in New Zealand. Thankfully for us, we have the chance to do it on home soil (before heading to Auckland) in Melbourne. We’ll get around the people in Melbourne and hopefully put together a good performance.”