Monday’s rugby news has the coaches discussing the Ireland fixture, the Aussie scrum applauded, Michael Lynagh defending Deans and the WRU paying substantially for a match.
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Wallabies look to Ireland
Following their convincing 50-20 win over Italy in Turin, the Wallabies have immediately begun to look towards this weekend’s match against Ireland. While praising his team’s composure under pressure after an early 10-0 deficit, coach Ewen McKenzie also added, ‘I won’t feel like things are back on track until we’ve started to string a bunch of wins together.’
The Irish team are also calling for a lift in performance, with new coach Joe Schmidt asserting that the side will get ‘a reality check’ when reviewing the highlights of their 40-9 win over Samoa. ‘If we open up too many options for them, they [the Wallabies] will take them,’ Schmidt said. ‘We are very, very aware of the threat Australia pose.’ [/one_half]
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Aussie front row praised
In a welcome change, the Wallabies front row has been applauded for their strong performance against the much-vaunted Italian scrum. The same front row was penalised seven times last week against England, with many (including the Azzurri pack) expecting the scrum to be a major tactical weapon for the Italians.
Instead, the Wallabies were either dominating or neutralising their opposing pack, with Ewen McKenzie emphasising, ‘There were penalties for both sides but the scrum wasn’t the psychological weapon that it was portrayed to be prior to the game.’ The performance also may have vindicated Link’s selection of Rob Simmons at No.6, with the added size to the scrum largely motivating the decision. [/one_half]
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Lynagh defends Deans
Michael Lynagh has publically stated that former Wallabies coach Robbie Deans was ‘unfairly treated’ during his tenure in charge, which yielded a 58 per cent win rate. ‘Now we have a team that is not playing any better than it did under the last coach and they are sometimes playing worse, and Ewen hasn’t had all the injuries to deal with that Robbie dealt with last year,’ Lynagh said.
Despite recent improved performances against Italy and Argentina, Lynagh saw that an inability to compete with the world’s best has put the team ‘in a huge hole under McKenzie.’ Australia must win their next three matches to salvage a semi-respectable Test year, as they are in danger of recording one of their worst in the professional era. [/one_half]
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ARU paid handsomely for Welsh Test
The Welsh Rugby Union will pay their Australian counterparts more than £750,000 ($1.28 million) for playing the fourth Test of the Wallabies’ autumn series on November 30. The significant windfall has occurred because the match falls outside of the IRB’s three week autumn window, enabling visiting teams to receive an appearance fee.
While clubs are under no obligation to release players for matches outside of this window, it appears that many of the Welsh stars playing outside of the country will be available. George North (Northampton), Dan Lydiate (Racing Metro) and Jamie Roberts (also Racing Metro) all have contract clauses that allow their fulfilment of international duties. [/one_half]
