Halfback Tate McDermott has surprisingly admitted that the Wallabies “didn’t quite understand” the Springboks’ defence A disastrous 43-12 Rugby Championship defeat in Pretoria.
Although they were very weak, the national champions managed almost every department with the arrival of Eddie Jones, which increased the problems ahead of them. Saturday shot at redemption against Michael Cheika’s Pumas in Sydney.
“We threw a lot of the ball so we didn’t understand how they were defending,” McDermott told Stan Sport’s Morgan Turinui. Rugby Heaven.
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“We expected them to be a good, fast side but we didn’t touch the ball enough to know … we have to kick the ball.
“We can kick smartly but we have to make sure we understand how teams work when we’re out there and just hold the ball a little bit.”
While McDermott’s honesty is refreshing, it shows just how much work Jones has to do to get the technical and tactical skills ready ahead of the Rugby World Cup.
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Jones spearheaded the Australian attack alongside assistant Brad Davis, a former league player and London Irish coach.
The good news is that shooting midfielder Samu Kerevi is back in the starting line-up in place of Reece Hodge, after playing on the bench for South Africa.
“A big push from the Wallabies, trying to give us a chance,” legendary No.12 Tim Horan said on Rugby Heaven.
NEW PODCAST: Special guest Nick Phipps helps the crew digest the Wallabies’ bad loss in Pretoria and plan how to make things right in Sydney against the Pumas.
“We were abused by South Africa. We kicked the ball too much, we bowled too much, we lost a couple of lines in that second half, the bowling was crooked.”
Turinui, another former Test player, believed Kerevi’s strong return would make the Wallabies game “easy.”
“Yes, he still has to kick, sometimes he can go wide but if you’re Quade Cooper, when you’re in trouble, you just lose to Samu Kerevi or you just give the ball to Samu Kerevi and it’s not just Rob Valetini who gets the Wallabies on the winning line,” Turinui said.
“So it has to give them the ability to adapt. At the weekend they didn’t win the scrimmage with or without the ball.”
Blacks boss Justin Marshall also highlighted the extent of Kerevi’s return as one of the world’s smallest players.
“There wasn’t enough threat in the line (in Pretoria) and you bring Kerevi and (Len) Ikitau out and then you can catch defenders and it creates space outside for the likes of (Tom) Wright and (Mark) Nawaqanitawase to get into the game,” Marshall said.
Gordon’s first attempt
“And that’s what Australia needs – the ability to play in the park.”
Argentina’s 30-29 win over England at Twickenham last year was Cheika’s first victory over Jones and he assisted. until the dismissal of the former in December.and
The Pumas were impressed by the win but Jones and Turinui hope Cheika will turn things around at the CommBank Stadium – the venue where Argentina beat the All Blacks in 2020.
Cheika is returning to old stomping ground
“I think they’ll try to spread the ball around a lot and try to stretch the Wallabies – just like the Springboks did last week,” Turinui said.
“It’s Michael Cheika’s team, so they’re always teams with a lot of assets. He’ll want to see a lot of himself in this team. So I see him going into a multiphase.”
INSTRUCTIONS (15-1): Tom Wright, Mark Nawaqanitawase, Len Ikitau, Samu Kerevi, Marika Koroibete, Quade Cooper, Nic White, Rob Valetini, Fraser McReight, Jed Holloway, Will Skelton, Richie Arnold, Allan Alaalatoa, Dave Porecki, James Slipper (c)
Storage: Jordan Wales, Angus Bell, Bond, Matt Philip, Rob Leota, Josh Kemeny, Tate McDermott, Carter Gordon
POMA (15-1): Emiliano Boffelli, Rodrigo Isgro, Lucio Cinti, Jeronimo de la Fountain, Matthew Carreras, James Carreras, Gonzalo Bertranou, Juan Martin Gonzalez, James Grondona, Pablo Matera, Thomas Lavanini, Matthias Germanno, Francisco Gomez Kodela, Julian Montoya (c), Thomas Horse
Storage: Agustin Creevy, Nahuel Tetaz Chaparro, Eduardo Bello, Lucas Paulos, Rodrigo Bruni, Lautaro Bazan Velez, Nicolas Sanchez, Matias Moroni
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