Monday’s rugby news has Cheika keeping a lid on excitement, Steve Hansen confident the All Blacks will win at Eden Park, Pumas shock South Africa and Sonny Bill Williams in doubt for Bledisloe II.
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Nothing Special Yet: Cheika
Michael Cheika is attempting to keep a lid on the excitement after the Wallabies defeated New Zealand.
Cheika said that the real challenge begins now as the Wallabies take on the All Blacks at Eden Park where they were smashed 50-21 last year.
“You might think we are a bit down but the reality is we have only beaten New Zealand once in a long time and for me that only stands for a little bit. Consistency is king. We have to compete with them on their home turf now,” Cheika said.
“We are working on our belief every day, this time they are still learning,”
“If you think you have solved things with one game, you are only putting a bandaid over a deep cut.”
The Wallabies also moved up to third from fifth position in the World rankings as a result of their win.
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Hansen Confident
All Blacks coach Steve Hansen is confident the All Blacks will retain the Bledisloe Cup next week at Eden Park where the Wallabies haven’t won in 29 years.
“I don’t think it gives them too many mental advantages, if you look at the overall last 10 years they’ve had their scars as well.”
“When you’ve got two guys like Pocock and Hooper, and then two weeks before that the two South African boys (Schalk Burger and Heinrich Brussow), who are really strong over the ball, it’s an area of the game we have to get better at.
“It’s the perfect time to be getting challenged, going into a World Cup.
“And we know it’s something we’ve not put a lot of work into so far this year because we’ve had other priorities, but it’s now become a pretty big focus.
“The breakdown, we’ve just got to be honest with ourselves; the last two games we’ve been tidied up there.
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Pumas Shock SA
Argentina have shocked South Africa after they defeated them 37-25 in Durban.
Winger Juan Imhoff scored a hat-trick as the Pumas claimed their second ever Rugby Championship win.
Springboks coach Heyneke Meyer was filthy with the loss.
“We have let our country and our supporters down today with this unacceptable performance,” he said.
“What we dished up in the first half was very poor. I apologise to the nation as the buck stops with me as coach.
“There are no excuses. I take responsibility and will work harder to rectify this before the Rugby World Cup.
“It is definitely a wake-up call for many of the players.
“You need wake up calls in life, but not at home.”
Jean De Villiers, Marcell Coetzee and Willie Le Roux have all been ruled out of the return match against Argentina in Buenos Aires due to injuries.
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SBW in Doubt
Sonny Bill Williams is in doubt for the second test with the Wallabies next weekend after injuring his tailbone 20 minutes into the match on Saturday night.
“He landed on his rear end… got a knock on the buttock and that’s tightened up so we’ll have to see how he goes,” Hansen said.
It is likely Ma’a Nonu will reclaim the number 12 jersey after sitting out the test in Sydney.
“Ma’a’s fine and Sonny could still come right,” Hansen said.
“We’ll just wait until we get through to Tuesday and make some assessments then.”
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