Wallabies centre Len Ikitau did his finest to place the burden of blame for a lean European tour on the gamers and never embattled coach Dave Rennie because the vacationers have been dealt one other crushing damage blow.
Former captain Michael Hooper turned the ninth participant to be despatched dwelling with damage, dominated out of this weekend’s ultimate sport in opposition to Wales with concussion.
He’s the third participant to be despatched dwelling with concussion, becoming a member of Nic White and Dave Porecki, leaving Rennie scrambling to fill his crew with Taniela Tupou (achilles), Rob Valetini (ankle), Andrew Kellaway (foot) and Hunter Paisami additionally having departed.
Centre Lalakai Foketi (leg) and Tom Banks (ankle) have been mid-tour casualties.
Fijian-born Langi Gleeson will make his first Wallabies begin as a substitute for Valetini, the 21-year-old having turned to rugby after spending time with NRL membership South Sydney of their under-20s.
The glut of accidents not simply on this robust however all through the previous two years has pressured Rennie to make use of 50 gamers in 14 Tests, the equal-most utilized in a season, having additionally used 50 in 2021.
It makes efforts to safe the ultimate match victory, and keep away from the Wallabies’ worst calendar yr outcomes since 1958, that a lot tougher.
Another defeat in Cardiff would solely add to the pile on on Rennie.
Since opening the tour with a 16-15 win over Scotland, the Wallabies have misplaced to France (30-29), Italy (28-27) and world No.1 Ireland (13-10), and the slim margins are sufficient for Ikitau to counsel the finger needs to be pointed at he and his teammates, not the coach.
“It‘s more on the players there,” he mentioned.
“Dave’s got an awesome system and the way he wants to play, and for us it’s going out there and executing it.
“I just don’t think we’ve been doing that the last couple of weeks, especially against Italy.
“It would be nice to finish off our last game with a win and go forward from there.”
The large damage checklist has pressured positional reshuffles too, with Ikitau, who usually performs at outdoors centre, pressured to shift to the No.12 jersey in opposition to Ireland after Paisami went down early within the match.
It’s not completely unfamiliar territory for Ikitau, and offers him the prospect to develop some versatility forward of subsequent yr’s World Cup.
“I’ve played 12 maybe three times my whole career, and it’s against the All Blacks, South Africa, and Ireland,” Ikitau mentioned.
“That‘s three big teams. It’s pretty tough.
“I’ve enjoyed it. I love playing 13, but 12 is a good learning experience for me.”
Jordan Petaia is about to start out at fullback and is aware of the significance of a ultimate win after a protracted tour.
“Looking back at the Italy game, the boys were gutted,” Petaia mentioned.
“And the Ireland game, it was a tough finish, so the boys want to turn things around.
“We‘re looking to get a strong win and will be fired up again this week.”
