Winger Lote Tuqiri insists the Wallabies will face their toughest Test of the year in Saturday week’s Tri-Nations rugby decider against New Zealand, after already receiving beatings from the All Blacks and Springboks.
Proven match-winner Tuqiri yesterday returned to Australia as part of the Wallabies squad which suffered a record 45-point loss to South Africa in Johannesburg last Saturday.
The 53-8 mauling meant Australia would go into the final tournament fixture against New Zealand one point behind the All Blacks on the competition table.
The defeat at Ellis Park was Australia’s second big loss of the tournament following their 39-10 beating by New Zealand in Auckland.
Both the Wallabies and All Blacks have a 3-2 win-loss record, but New Zealand now have vastly a superior for and against.
While still trying to come to terms with the magnitude of last weekend’s defeat, Tuqiri was adamant Australia faced its biggest test of the campaign on Saturday week.
“We’ve got a couple of weeks now to think about it and hopefully do a job in Brisbane,” Tuqiri said.
“It’s going to be even tougher, it’s going to be probably the toughest game we’ve played this year.
“Back home now, a few days rest and back into it. But hopefully everyone will be fighting to put their hand up to be able to be selected for that game, because it’s going to be huge.”
One of the veteran members of the team, Tuqiri struggled to identify exactly why the Wallabies performed so poorly last weekend.
“We started okay and they just got on top of us and they just kept rolling and rolling and we just didn’t have much to combat them,” Tuqiri said.
“They were just too good on the day and they just kept going. I really can’t put a finger on it.”
The powerful back felt Australia didn’t need to stray from their usual style to beat New Zealand, who they split their two earlier Tri-Nations fixtures against.
“We’ve just got to stick to our patterns. We’ve just got to play the way we want to play,” Tuqiri said.
While Tuqiri would seem certain to retain his starting spot for the tournament decider, other members of last week’s run on side are expected to be sacrificed.
Coach Robbie Deans gave little away about his thoughts on selections for the Brisbane showdown, but didn’t rule out changes to his starting line-up.
In the pack, hooker Tatafu Polota-Nau and openside flanker Phil Waugh are likely to be replaced by more established starters Stephen Moore and George Smith respectively.
Former rugby league star Timana Tahu, who experienced a tough starting Test debut last weekend, could struggle to retain his spot, even if regular inside centre Berrick Barnes, doesn’t recover from injury.
Join The Roar rugby editor Christy Doran, former Wallaby Matt Toomua and a cast of regular and special guests as they look at the biggest issues in the game on The Roar Rugby Podcast. If you’re looking for great odds on the next game check out Aussie bookmaker PlayUp. Chances are you’re about to lose. Set a deposit limit.
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