Australia’s surge to the 2015 World Cup final after turbulence the previous year has convinced re-signed Wallabies five-eighth Bernard Foley the team can do something similar and potentially go one better in next year’s tournament.
Foley on Wednesday announced a one-year contact extension after rebuffing overseas offers, but said a long-term deal was “not out of the picture.”
A stunning come-from-behind win against Argentina earlier this month kept Australia off the bottom of the Rugby Championship ladder, but they finished with a mediocre 2-4 record and are 3-6 for the year.
Australia also went through a rocky patch at the corresponding stage of their last World Cup cycle
Coach Ewen McKenzie stepped down in mid-October 2014 and the Wallabies won just one of four spring tour matches under his replacement Michael Cheika.
Despite that turbulence, Australia improved sufficiently within 12 months to make the World Cup final, where they lost to New Zealand.
‘I think having that experience is very comforting,” Foley said on Wednesday.
“Knowing 12 months out from the World Cup last time that I didn’t have that belief at all, now I’ve got that belief and I think we’ve definitely got the players to go out there and do that.
“I’m more than confident that we can go one better than we did last time.
‘I think the challenge for us is to do everything we can now to be No.1 in the world and to win that and lift that trophy.
“There’s definitely a lot of hard work to be done. There’s lot of potential that has to be fulfilled and that’s the exciting thing.”
Cheika expressed confidence that 64-Test veteran Foley won’t be lost to a rich overseas club contract after next year.
“I’m very happy that Bernard has signed on but I don’t believe this will be his final year in Australian rugby,” Cheika said.
Foley is the fourth-highest points scorer (593) in Wallabies history and only sits behind Matt Giteau (698 points), Matt Burke (878) and Michael Lynagh (911).
He was dropped for three Rugby Championship Tests, but was restored to the run-on side for the match against Argentina.
Australia’s next Test is the last Bledisloe Cup match of the year against world champions New Zealand in Tokyo on October 27.
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