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'This is a better Wallabies team than I've seen for a while' - Foster talks up Australia despite 20 point defeat
By AAP
The Wallabies and the All Blacks believe there's little separating them as the trans-Tasman rivals head to Australia for the final two matches to decide the Bledisloe Cup series. The All Blacks finished the New Zealand leg with a 1-0 advantage after their 27-7 win in Auckland on Sunday after a 16-all draw in the opener in Wellington.
While the hosts were more emphatic at Eden Park, consigning Australia to a 20th straight defeat at the ground, coach Ian Foster was taking nothing for granted before the third and fourth Tests in Sydney and Brisbane on October 31 and November 7 respectively.
"Was it a perfect performance? No, it wasn't," Foster said. "There'll be some things we have to move forward because they're a good team and now we have to go over there.
"But that's the level we need to start at and we've just got to climb because it's a tough series.
"This is a better Wallabies team than I've seen for a while. They want to stay in the fight, and we had to fight for 80 minutes."
Wallabies coach Dave Rennie also believes the difference between winning and losing is a thin line.
"We felt at halftime we'd fallen off a lot of tackles and gifted a bit of ball to the All Blacks," he said.
"Yet we were only down 10-7, so we thought we were right in it."
Rennie felt the game could have gone differently, even when the All Blacks scored twice in six minutes to start the second half to lead 20-7.
However, Marika Koroibete couldn't ground the ball when held up over the line while Brandon Paenga-Amosa was penalised for a double movement when touching down soon after.
Captain Michael Hooper had no doubt the Wallabies were on the right track and that home-ground advantage would help their quest to win the symbol of trans-Tasman supremacy for the first time since 2003.
"Absolutely, there's a lot to like about our team," he said.
"The way our staff are preparing us for a game, the way our boys are reacting to what staff are throwing at us, there's a lot to like here and a lot of hunger.
"We'll go back home now, you know … two games on home soil."
The Australians have an injury worry over Matt Toomua, who strained a groin when making a clearing a kick.
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Latest Comments
There is this thing going around against Siya Kolisi where they don't want him to be known as the best national captain ever, so they strike him down in ratings permanently whenever they can. They want McCaw and reckons he is the best captain ever. I disagree.
Just like they refuse to see SA as the best team and some have even said that should the Boks win a third WC in a row, they will still not be the best team ever. Even if they win every game between now and the WC. That is some serious hate coming SA's way.
Everyone forget how the McCaw AB's intimidated refs, was always on the wrong side, played on the ground etc. Things they would never have gotten away with today. They may have a better win ratio, but SA build depth, not caring about rank inbetween WC's until this year.
They weren't as bad inbetween as people claim, because non e of their losses was big ones and they almost never faced the strongest Bok team outside of the WC, allowing countries like France and Ireland to rise to the top unopposed.
Rassie is still at it, building more depth, getting more young stars into the fold. By the time he leaves (I hope never) he will leave a very strong Bok side for the next 15- 20 years. Not everyone will play for 20 years, but each year Rassie acknowledge the young stars and get them involved and ready for international rugby.
Not everyone will make it to the WC, but those 51/52 players will compete for those spots for the WC. They will deliver their best. The future of the Boks is in very safe hands. The only thing that bothers me is Rassie's health. If he can overcome it, rugby looks dark for the rest of the rugby world. He is already the greatest coach in WR history. By the time he retires, he will be the biggest legend any sport has ever seen
Go to commentsWas it? I just brought it up in some of my posts to rub it in that the AB last year nearly put 100 on a top 6N side lol
I agree to be honest. The biggest key to me that they might be jadded was none of them had mom performances, or even as good as their last three games.
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