Wallabies fullback Andrew Kellaway pushed himself to observe the entire “depressing” World Cup loss to Wales in a bid to place their match actuality to at least one aspect and rally one final time for a marketing campaign that may very well be over earlier than they even play Portugal.
The revelation got here as assistant coach Dan Palmer defended the “eclectic” group serving to coach Eddie Jones, with two former rugby league gamers a part of a cohort that has come underneath fireplace within the wake of the Wallabies’ worst World Cup end result.
Palmer is a part of a training panel that features Brett Hodgson and Jason Ryles, who had nice careers in rugby league however by no means performed rugby union, and have been lured by Jones, who stays within the gun as he refutes hyperlinks to the Japan job, to hitch his crew.
“The coaching staff out here have been outstanding,” Palmer mentioned in France.
“There’s been a little bit of chat about people from different codes, but that’s been a strength.
“There is a lot of rugby IP in the coaching group and the perspective from guys from different codes has been really helpful. I’ve thought about things I haven’t had to think about before, and that’s purely because we’ve got different perspectives in the coaching group.
“Contrary to the current narrative, I think it’s a strength in this group that we’ve got an eclectic group of coaches.”
Even Kellaway mentioned studying off Hodgson, who was a long-serving fullback within the 13-man code, had been useful.
“As a fullback, you get different perspectives, and I know there’s been a heap of chat around the correlation between league and union, but for me, Hodgo’s played in big games, and he played the same position that I do,” Kellaway mentioned on Wednesday.
“I’ve found him incredibly useful and not to mention he’s a top bloke, so just having someone to talk to around the group.”
Talk has been plentiful within the days after the 40-6 loss to Wales that ought to consign the Wallabies to their first World Cup exit with out making the finals.
Amid the “mourning”, Kellaway mentioned he took the choice to observe the entire replay to search out his personal areas of enchancment for what may very well be his “last game” towards Portugal.
“I watched the whole game, mate. Incredibly depressing,” he mentioned.
“We’ve definitely got more clarity about why it happened the way it happened.
“And as is the case with professional sport, you spend the next week trying to rectify those areas. Portugal will have watched that and they’ll be licking their lips and they’ll be coming right after us.
“So if we spend too much time dwelling on that and spending time in that shock and awe kind of phase, we’ll miss the jump and we’ll be chasing our arse on Sunday.”
If Fiji beat Georgia 24 hours earlier than the Wallabies conflict, and declare a bonus level within the course of, the slight hope Australia has of development shall be snuffed out.
But given the potential fallout for gamers after the World Cup, Kellaway mentioned it wouldn’t be laborious to search out his greatest.
“The best to turn it around is realising we have another game,” he mentioned, having missed the primary two video games.
“It probably sounds like it’s a cliche and a bit stupid, but it might be my last game, you never know.”
Source: www.news.com.au
