Elsom frustrated
Wallabies skipper Rocky Elsom said his side’s performance against the All Blacks last Saturday was not good enough.
The Wallabies were whitewashed 4-0 in the Bledisloe Cup series against the All Blacks this season, and their defeat in Japan was their seventh consecutive loss to their New Zealand counterparts.
Although it was an improved display from the Wallabies after their last match in Wellington, Elsom said only the result really matters.
‘I couldn’t fault the guys for their effort and their intensity, but it wasn’t good enough. And that’s a big problem,’ Elsom told rugbyheaven.com.au.
‘You’ve got to win. We can say whatever we like about how we’re going, but you only really know from our performances. And as much good as there was last Saturday, it was alongside a few others that in the end did not go our way.’
Elsom added that England are likely to target a victory against the Wallabies after their disappointing season.
‘We have at least England now to think about, but they’ll be looking at us as the southern hemisphere team they’ll be most likely to knock off.’
The Wallabies will now look to make amends by having a successful tour to Europe. Elsom said they have to take one game at a time and not focus too much on all four games against England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales.
‘We’ve taken the position of just looking at the next team and going with that. We can’t really afford to think about how we build or how we prepare the guys for the four matches. What we’ve got to do is go hell for leather in each match,’ he said.
‘We know this tour will only be special if we do well. But what we’re trying to do is not think about the big thing, as you can waste a lot of energy on that.’
November 2nd, 2009 at 8:16 am
Wannabee like the Bok Dragons!
November 2nd, 2009 at 9:37 am
‘We have at least England now to think about, but they’ll be looking at us as the southern hemisphere team they’ll be most likely to knock off.’
Clearly doesn’t realise we’re also playing Argentina.
November 2nd, 2009 at 10:56 am
Oh, says Capt Anonymous.
November 2nd, 2009 at 11:02 am
Welll basically their much touted David Pocock wasnt as decisive as they thought he would be, Their centre combination is pretty much the worse for wear with Mortlock and Barnes missing and Hynes doesnt cut it on wing.
Finally the little boytijie wonder O Connor is so wayyy out of his league he looks like a rabbit on a highway.
Only players that stood out were – Palu (why did they drop him in the first place), Will Genia (big future ahead of him), Ioane and Adam Ashley Cooper.
They must be regretting sacking Tuquiri by now.
If they had this team they would still stand a chance of winning:
1 Benn Robinson
2 Stephen Moore
3 Ben Alexander
4 James Horwill
5 Nathan Sharpe
6 Rocky Elsom
7 George Smith
8 Palu
9 Genia
10 Giteau
11 Tuquiri
12 Barnes
13 Mortlock
14 Ioane
15 Adam Ashley Cooper
November 2nd, 2009 at 12:42 pm
#4 Slumtown: McCaw is still king of the breakdown ( sorry Henrich) … It takes a very special player to beat Richie
November 2nd, 2009 at 3:31 pm
#5 stew:
Bar his 1st touch/fumble of the ball, McCaw was simply outstanding again. He remains King of the Breakdown but no other flanker also takes so many re-starts/highballs, scores and makes tries and carrys the ball up like McCaw. He was breathtaking in Tokyo and Pocock was merely going along for the ride.
For Safas to say that Brussow has been his superior this year just proves their blind optimism. Fair dues, Brussow got the better of McCaw in Bloem but it was all-change in Durban only for McCaw to molest him in Hamilton. Also it took the refs years to start pinging McCaw after the concerted media campaign by Bok Management & Capts, and yet Brussow was whistled repeatedly in both Durban & Hamilton, so he has still much to learn of the subtle arts in that position. Having said that, he’s a magic little player and a joy to watch. But nowhere near the allround game of the King yet.