mens
nations-championship
Australia Captain Harry Wilson still believes the Wallabies are capable of beating any team in the world on their day, calling for cohesion and togetherness within the group after the 45-22 Nations Championship defeat by England.
Max Jorgensen intercepted a pass and raced over for a much-needed try just before half-time as the Wallabies reduced the deficit to just nine points, but England ran away with it during a fairly dominant second-half display.
Fullback Henry Pollock came on as a substitute wing and scored two tries as England ‘won’ the second half 26-12. Filippo Daugunu and Jeremy Williams went down for the box during the final 20, but as Wilson said after the game, it was “too little, too late”.
Australia began their new era under coach Les Kiss with a five-match unbeaten run, before losing the Bledisloe Cup series. The All black people secured comprehensive victories on their Auckland the Eden Park fortress, and backed it up with another commanding effort in Sydney
But the Wallabies will soon have another chance to return to the winner’s circle, ready to face off Scotland in the fifth round of the Nations Championship. The Aussies have won one of their last four at Murrayfield, but belief within the group remains strong.
“Every game we go into we want to win. Three losses on the trot, three convincing losses, that’s not good enough,” Wilson told reporters.
“We have seven days to take these lessons and be much better. We haven’t been playing to the standard we are. We know when we play well, we can beat anybody in the world. We’re not doing it consistently enough. That’s enough.”
“If we can stay connected as a group and really keep trying to learn and get better, there’s no doubt that this group will be able to bounce back.”
Ryan Lonergan knocked down a penalty in the 12thth minute, putting the Wallabies on the board at Twickenham’s Allianz Stadium. But England were otherwise in control and Ollie Chessum promptly crashed over the try line.
Angus Bell was booked around the 30th minute and England scored another try before half-time. England led 19-3 and were hot again in attack, when ‘Jorgo’ threw in a game-changing pass.
Jorgensen, who was the hero for the Wallabies at the same venue two years earlier, raced over for the first try of the afternoon. But apart from that, as Wilson explained, the Wallabies “didn’t really fire a single shot” during the opening 40.
“We’re really excited to come out and try to hit some shots and really support our game,” Wilson reflected.
“England put us in a difficult position on the field. I felt like we were always trying to get out, get out of our end. The set-piece battle on the line, they get a little payback there which hurt us a little bit.”
“I’m really disappointed because I expected better from us. We’ll take that knowledge to Scotland next week because we know we’re at our best when we back our game and really put teams at risk.”
The Wallabies have conceded at least 40 points in their last three Tests, including more than 90 points in the Bledisloe Cup series. It’s “something we don’t accept,” said Kiss, after another heavy loss.
Australia lost 19 turnovers, won just five, had less possession and territory, made fewer tackles and missed more defensive tackles. The Wallabies finished with 75 per cent completion from more than 140 attempts against England.
“Something needs to be done there. Overcoming some habits that were there and we’re just trying to move the wheel a little bit to be a little more pressure-based on our defense,” said the coach.
“It just won’t come together for sure, but we will continue to work… the boys will be hard on themselves, which is necessary. And the coaches will also be hard on ourselves to find a solution together.”
“We’re going to stay connected, we’re going to work hard. The bottom line is we’ve got to get better, we’ve just got to get better.”