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Wallabies flyhalf Bernard Foley has put his hand up for the moment that led to a Scotland try in the tight 16-15 win on Sunday.
Early in the second half Foley received a pass under pressure from Tate McDermott and tried an offload, spilling the ball and allowing Blair Kinghorn to race away and score Scotland’s second try.
While Foley made the difference with his kicking – landing four from four as Kinghorn muffed two straightforward attempts including one in the last minute – he accepted the blame for a potentially match-turning moment.
“It was just a bit of timing … it was poor from me,” Foley told the Sydney Morning Herald on Monday.
“I’ve got to give myself a bit more time to execute, catch and get the pass away. I was probably under pressure trying to do too much. It was about controlling my feet a bit better.
“We probably gave up too much possession with dropped balls or being clunky with our execution.”
The Roar experts Brett McKay, Harry Jones and Jim Tucker discuss the Wallabies’ win in the Instant Reaction Podcast
Foley said the fact the Wallabies were able to hang on for the victory, thanks to Kinghorn’s shanked shot at the posts, was “massive” for their tour ambitions.
“To get a win like that and get that belief … it gets us into the tour,” he said.
“I think the ability to find ways to win is probably something we haven’t had. Finding a way to win away from home when things weren’t going our way and down by nine points, to work it out and stay in the battle and enjoy the contest, was probably the most pleasing aspect of our game.”
The Wallabies face France in Paris on Sunday (AEDT) with Foley expecting a kicking battle.
“They’re smart with their kicking,” Foley said. “I’ve actually done a bit with their kicking coach Vlok Cilliers. We understand they’ll come with a pretty strong tactic to disrupt us again.
“You come on these tours and you’ve got to do the basics well and apply pressure by not letting up with errors and not letting other teams get into the contest.”
Meanwhile, the Herald reported from the tour that the Wallabies believe Pete Samu could recover in time to feature against France. He was injured in a gym session and ruled out of the Scotland game late on – with Langi Gleeson winning a debut off the bench.
Samu’s back injury is not significant enough for the Wallabies to send him home.
Bernard Foley of Australia is challenged by Sione Tuipulotu of Scotland. (Photo by Mark Runnacles/Getty Images)
Rugby league code hopper Roger Tuivasa-Sheck has been released by the All Blacks after his first Test start against Japan.
He had his third appearance and first as a starter in the No.12 jersey for the All Blacks’ 38-31 win in Tokyo.
All Blacks coach Ian Foster sent Tuivasa-Sheck and Braydon Ennor – his centre partner – to play for Leon MacDonald’s All Blacks XV, who play against Ireland A on Friday (AEDT).
After that, the team play a Barbarians side, coached by Crusaders head coach Scott Robertson, at Tottenham Stadium on November 12.
Tuivasa-Sheck and Ennor’s releases indicate the All Blacks will look to Jordie Barrett, Rieko Ioane, and Anton Lienert-Brown to fill the midfield roles against Wales in Cardiff this weekend.
Meanwhile All Blacks captain Sam Cane is out of the rest of the year after he played on with a double fractured cheekbone against Japan.
Cane played on for the last 10 minutes of the Test after a clash of heads with a Japanese opponent.
Veteran hooker Dane Coles joins him in the casualty ward with a calf injury. The All Blacks will also likely be without Brodie Retallick who faces the judiciary this week after his red card.
Cane explained his injury to allblacks.com: “Caleb Clarke carried. I went in to clean from the outside, and David Havili came from the inside. I was the cleaner, the Japanese player moved late, and we hit heads.
“I got up slowly, and without having done my cheekbone before, I knew I had probably done my cheekbone. I could feel it when I put my hand on my head. And I could feel the blood in my mouth.
“It was sort of sore but numb at the same time. Because it wasn’t too sore, and there were only 10 minutes to go, I wasn’t too concerned, but I knew it wasn’t too good.
“The game was in the balance at that point, and it didn’t restrict my ability to play and perform, so I was happy to carry on.”
A CT scan revealed the breaks near his left eye.
“Knowing the work that goes into getting on the field, you want to be out there with your teammates doing what you can to perform well, and play well, in the black jersey,” he said.
Ian Foster has fired back at Japan’s Kiwi coach Jamie Joseph after his statements following the close Test battle.
Joseph delivered what New Zealand media called a “brutal sledge” when he said his team was heading to play a “better team” than the All Blacks next week against England.
Kazuki Himeno of Japan celebrates scoring his side’s fourth try on Saturday. (Photo by Koki Nagahama/Getty Images)
He also suggested the All Blacks had lost their fear factor, prompting a wry response from Foster who called Joseph’s comments “mischievous”.
“He’s obviously very happy with a close loss and he should be proud of his team’s effort, but we’ll take the win and move on,” Foster said.
“I’ve been around a lot of All Black teams where our first game as a group after a spell we’ve struggled.
“But there were certainly some parts that weren’t up to our standards, we scored 38 points with five nice tries, but if you look at your performance, particularly our lineout, it really didn’t function particularly well.
“We left a lot of opportunities there and probably our transition defence, where we just looked slow to move and not really connected, a couple of pretty critical areas I don’t think we were up to par.
“But it was also a pretty good Japan team we played against and in particular, that transition defence is an area of strength for them.
“They fed off the scraps and did it very well, we knew that it was coming and we weren’t quite quick enough but a good building block going forward.”
Scotland head coach Gregor Townsend defended Glen Young after his clean out on Tate McDermott on Sunday.
While Morgan Turinui on the Stan Sport coverage was adamant the cleanout should have seen Young receive a red card instead of a yellow, Dave Rennie agreed with the decision by Luke Pearce.
Young received a yellow card in the 56th minute, which proved to be crucial as Wallabies captain James Slipper scored a try when the hosts were reduced to 14 men.
“I was in the coaching box and [assistant coach] Steve Tandy said, ‘Oh, we could be in trouble here’ and I said, ‘No, it’s a world class clear out.’ It was brilliant to see someone sprinting to get with the ball carrier,” Townsend said.
“In his second game for Scotland, Glen was a millimetre away from the best clear out you will see to hitting the smallest guy on the field in the head… We said to Glen, it was a world-class bit of play that was a yellow card.
“All our players thought they were going to the TMO because of the head shot on Duhan van der Merwe beforehand, but that’s rugby just now.
“Glen’s was a very good clear out but his bicep caught the Australia player in the shoulder and chin, so that is what deemed it a yellow card.”
New Zealand Rugby will tighten security for the rest of the women’s World Cup after a naked male streaker gatecrashed the Black Ferns’ quarter-final victory over Wales.
He was eventually apprehended by security officials.
In a statement, NZR said: “Precautions were taken to prevent security breaches, however in this rare instance we were unable to stop a pitch invader from accessing the field. Fortunately, vigilant security staff were able to apprehend the pitch invader promptly and escort them from the field without delay.
“Team and fan experience is our top priority and we will be redoubling our efforts following yesterday’s incident and security staff have already been briefed to remain extra vigilant at upcoming match days.
“It is disappointing that, despite efforts to ensure Rugby World Cup 2021 provides a family-friendly and inclusive match-day experience, the actions of an individual has drawn attention away from the incredible display of women’s rugby we witnessed during yesterday’s quarter-finals.”
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.