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Key playmaker in line for Tri-Nations finale return as Wallabies reveal where they went wrong against Pumas
By AAP
The crestfallen Wallabies have undertaken a new intensive match review process, seeking "nuggets of gold" as they look to rebound from their disappointing 15-15 Tri-Nations draw with Argentina.
Wallabies assistant coach Scott Wisemantel said the side were as "flat" as he'd seen them after they let a 15-6 lead slip against the Pumas in their clash in Newcastle on Saturday.
A win would have put them within 80 minutes of lifting the tournament silverware, and the Wallabies knew they'd blown a golden chance.
"They (Argentina) were dead, with 20 minutes to go, they were gone, but we opened the door up," Wisemantel said on Tuesday.
"We were tactically a little naive, lacked discipline - so it's the one that got away."
Ahead of their final match against Argentina on December 5 at Bankwest Stadium Wisemantel said head coach Dave Rennie wanted to try something new.
"We broke the game down into four 20-minute quarters and throughout the whole sq uad, they were divided into four groups and each were given a portion," he explained.
"They then had to review what was good and what was poor and how we can manage it - it was a long process but at the end of it I think we ended up with tactical growth which is what we want.
"In those smaller groups everyone gets a voice and from that you get little nuggets of gold."
While the final 20 minutes were obviously the most disappointing, the main areas identified were decision-making, discipline and inability to convert opportunities.
"We've created lots of opportunities but we've got to be better at finishing so that's around our skill level, and we've got to get better at decision-making," he said.
"Discipline is definitely an area we need to tighten up on, reacting to niggle; we've got to be calm, collected, composed and tactically smart."
Meanwhile, Wisemantel said they were hopeful injured playmaker James O'Connor, who has missed the past three games, could be available for the final match.
He said O'Connor was doing some rehab running on his injured foot which came after a knee issue.
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Latest Comments
There's no easy fix here. From a geography standpoint, South Africa is kind of on an island alone in the rugby world, much like Argentina.
They don't have enough talent to have a top tier domestic league of their own, and it won't support the union financially. Best case you could hope for would be the five extant franchises (including Cheetahs) and perhaps a team from Namimbia. Gives you a 6 team league, that's not enough. Plus again, it's just not financially sustainable either.
At the same time, it's not really great for them to be involved in either the European or the Pacific rugby set up. That said, as bad as the travel is, at least Europe makes more sense from a time zone perspective. I still think it's the least bad option. Also has done wonders for the URC.
I don't think though, that it makes very much sense to have 4 teams from the URC excluded from European qualification. Not to mention, being able to compete in the Champions Cup was a big draw for the South African clubs anyway.
So yeah, I don't really see a change that makes more sense than the less than ideal situation that already exists.
Go to commentsMoriaty refused to play for wales also he’s injured, France’s is being coy about wales, North in the dark but Sam David and jerad are you joking their not good enough
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