Wallabies can forget winning the grand slam
The Wallabies have no hope of emulating the feats of the 1984
Australian grand slam team after yet another defeat to the All Blacks,
the Australian press said on Monday.
The Australians suffered their seventh straight loss to New Zealand
in Tokyo on Saturday ahead of this month’s internationals against
England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales.
The Wallabies are bidding to repeat the achievement of the 1984 side
that conquered all four nations to complete a rugby “grand slam.” But
the 32-19 loss to the All Blacks, coming on the back of a miserable
Tri-Nations this year, merely reinforced the belief that the Australians
will struggle to gain the respect of this month’s opponents, newspapers
said.
“Although the Wallabies improved dramatically from their Wellington
debacle (against the All Blacks) with an often pugnacious performance on
Saturday, the ever-despairing Australian players concede they will
struggle to gain the respect of England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales,”
The Sydney Morning Herald said.
The paper reported that Wallabies captain Rocky Elsom had said their
next opponent, England, on Saturday, will treat Australia as the easiest
of the southern hemisphere teams to beat.
“While that was embarrassing for the Wallabies, it was also
understandable, after such a lamentable season in which they experienced
just one Tri-Nations victory in six matches, and then on Saturday, for
the fourth time in the last five Bledisloe Cup fixtures, failed to take
advantage of a half-time lead,” the paper said. Elsom said it was time
for the Wallabies to regain the respect of all of their opponents.
“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 said.
Australia’s World Cup-winning coach Bob Dwyer said the Wallabies
should send out an SOS for second-rower Dan Vickerman to bolster their
squad for the grand slam tour.
Dwyer, who coached the 1991 World Cup champions, called for the
30-year-old former Test forward, who is studying at Cambridge, after
deficiencies in the Wallabies pack were exposed again by the All Blacks
in Toyko.
“Imagine getting dished up by the New Zealand lineout — and we got
dished up well and truly,” Dwyer told the Daily Telegraph.
Dwyer said Vickerman was a world-class second-rower at a time when
Australia did not have any.
“One of the things it does show is the foolishness of letting Daniel
Vickerman go overseas,” Dwyer said.
SYDNEY, Monday AFP |
