Even Adam Ashley-Cooper admits “enough’s enough” – but the Wallabies’ Mr Fixit is pleading with Australia’s fickle rugby fans to keep the faith with the country’s most maligned national sporting team.
Ashley-Cooper says being a member of only the second Australian team in more than a century of trans-Tasman rivalry to lose nine straight Bledisloe Cup Tests to New Zealand is extremely tough to bear.
But he is adamant after Saturday night’s gallant 20-10 defeat in Christchurch that the Wallabies are close to turning the corner and very much on track for a successful 2011 World Cup campaign in the Shaky Isles.
“Over the last nine games, the results don’t reflect the closeness in the teams, the narrowness,” Ashley-Cooper told AAP on Sunday.
“The losses don’t reflect how tight it is between the two Test teams. It hurts, but we’re definitely due and we know that and I think once we finally get that win, it will be huge for us.
“It’s good to know that we’re not peaking yet – we want to peak next year – but, as a team, everyone knows that we’re building and that we’re getting better.
“If we can continue doing that, then next year holds great hope for us.”
Australia are currently ranked third in the world rugby standings behind only New Zealand and South Africa, who the Wallabies thumped 30-13 a fortnight ago in Brisbane.
Ashley-Cooper, though, says it feels like unless they are top dogs, the Wallabies constantly seem on the nose with the bulk of Australian supporters.
“And the times you feel it the most is when you’re losing to these buggers,” the backline utility ace said before departing Christchurch.
“And it’s happened obviously so frequently over the last couple of years, so I hope the fans can stick with us and still be proud of us because there’s still an opportunity to finish second best in the world this year and that’s our main goal now.”
The Wallabies have a three-week break before rounding out their 2010 Tri Nations campaign with two Tests against South Africa in Pretoria and Bloemfontein and a third for the year against New Zealand in Sydney on September 11.
Ashley-Cooper says notching successive wins in the Republic for the first time since 1963 is now the Wallabies’ immediate goal.
“We’ll take a lot of confidence out of beating them in Brisbane and hopefully we can get two in a row on the road over there,” he said. “It’s been a while since we’ve gone back-to-back there.
“Enough’s enough really. We need to start winning.
“We had a good week here and we wanted to be a different team to the team that turned up in Melbourne (last week and lost 49-28 to New Zealand).
“We did that, but it was probably just around that 65, 70-minute mark where we really could have turned the sword, but it didn’t happen.
“Everyone knows it – enough’s enough and that’s the way we’re going to be approaching it with South Africa and certainly when we meet New Zealand back in Sydney.
Moaman
Guest
Scrum.com's fantastic statsguru is well worth a visit guys! If you aren't happy with winning 50% of the time(and who would be?)take a look at the historical figures.Since 1899 Australia has played 512 Tests for a won 257 lost 240 drawn 15 record.That is 51.66%.With the modern preponderance of 3N games versus the other 2 top Powers-it is no wonder that the win-loss ratio is decreasing.If all you worry about is winning(and you don't want to change codes)-pull out of the 3N and join the 6N!
Denby
Guest
Weird comments from ACC. "Ashley-Cooper, though, says it feels like unless they are top dogs, the Wallabies constantly seem on the nose with the bulk of Australian supporters" I think most supports would accept some loses, but 50% of the time is getting a bit hard to bare. And to be totally fare, the Wallabies have not been top dog since 2001, that is a long time between drinks.
yeh right
Guest
Sorry but where are we getting? Losing by less? Bloody hell if you were a car salesman and you told your boss this he would sack you on the spot. There is a saying a miss is as good as a mile. If anybody other than the guys making the excuses (coach and players) think losing is acceptable they are kidding themselves. The positive that we are supposed to get out of this is we only lost by 10. Or They didn't score a try in the second half. They didn't need to they cruised home. Why bust your gut if you have the game and the series wrapped up you might as well as the AB's did take it easy and save yourself for beating the Boks.
inkosi
Roar Rookie
Obviously you want your team to win. But if they play with the same spirit they had on Sat in Christchurch, I won't be going anywhere.