'Roll up the sleeves': Wallabies star details plan to snap losing run against England
Some 12 years on from a forgettable test debut, Wallabies prop James Slipper heads to Perth and a battle with England this weekend able to seek a slice of redemption.
Just 21 at the time, Slipper debuted against England the last time the nations clashed in Perth and admits it was a struggle, the forward pack brutalised and even conceding a penalty try despite Australia winning 27-17.
But speaking ahead of Saturday night's first Ella-Mobbs Trophy test, the vastly-experienced Slipper said he didn't see the clash as a personal test, but rather one for the Wallabies to prove they can take it up to England in the set-piece.
"It wasn't a great night for me that night, it's one to park," Slipper told reporters with a laugh.
"That debut was in 2010, so it was a long time ago and a lot of water has gone under the bridge since then.
"It's very hard to win a game for your country without a functioning set-piece so we've been doing a lot of work on that.
"England back themselves in that area ... we're going to have to make sure we roll up the sleeves."
Slipper reflected on last November's match-up, where the Wallabies coughed up 18 penalties to England's nine and paid for it with a 32-15 defeat.
"We were really disappointed with our performance last year on the Spring tour ... our set-piece wasn't great, it really put us under a lot of pressure," he said.
"Since the 2015 World Cup we've just missed the jump on that basis (against England), in the collision area, they've beaten us in the discipline game, they've got sharpshooters who can score threes and get the scoreboard ticking."
Perhaps addressing the visitors' dominance up front is the inclusion of former Brumbies coach Dan McKellar as the Wallabies' full-time forwards coach, having been seconded to the national team setup last year.
Slipper, who played under McKellar at the Brumbies, hoped his club side's forward strength particularly at the maul could translate to the Wallabies and the international fray.
"Clearly having Dan in in the picture, that's his forte isn't it - forwards, the rolling maul and just the detail around carries and clean," he said.
"He's been a great addition to the Wallabies' makeup and we've been training hard, so I think all of the above will be on the on the menu this weekend."
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Skelton may be brought back for the Wallabies so that would be the only reason that may hinder Wilson. Easily the form, most skilful and game IQ of any Oz 8. Valentini’s best and favourite position is 6, but lineouts may be an issue with Skelton, Valentini and Wilson. Will be interesting what Schmidt goes for but for me Wilson should be picked on form. Schmidt rewards work rate, skill and consistency. All that glitters every so often won’t be in contention. Greely is one of those players that has a knack of making the right decision. A coach is going to love him because he knows week in week out he’s going to get the job done. The second try Greely wasn’t the guy who made the initial break it was Flook, Greely was at the bottom of the ruck when Flook was off along the sideline. Greely got up and made the effort to catch up with play but also read the play nicely and hit the pass from Campbell at pace and then held the pass beautifully to Ryan.
Go to commentsSharks deserved to be far further back by the last quarter. Their tackling was awful, their set pieces were disappointing, their defensive organization was poor (especially on the Kok side of the D line), they kept making unnecessary errors, and they never looked like cracking the Clermont defense during those first 60m. Masuku kept them in touch, with some help from the Clermont generosity on penalty opportunities. Agree with the writer of this article. It was belligerence, and ability to raise their pressure game just enough, that turned the last quarter into a Bok-style shutout. Clermont have a reputation of not playing the full 80m, and there was a bit of that for sure. But, quite often when the intensity of a team drops off in the last quarter credit is due to the opponent for tiring them out. At 60m, with the Kok try, you thought that just maybe the game was on. At 70m, with the Mapimpi contribution, one felt that Clermont were fading, while facing a team that would maintain the pressure game through the final whistle. Good win in the end, but the Sharks are still playing way below their potential. And with their resources, and a coach that has had enough time to figure things out, they are running out of excuses.
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