'It's a marathon': Wallabies not panicking as Kerevi puts hand up to start against Cheika's Pumas

Samu Kerevi has shut down any talk of concern within the Wallabies camp following their “disappointing” first-up loss in South Africa and said they’ve quickly turned their attention to showing up this Saturday against Michael Cheika’s Los Pumas.

The Wallabies quietly returned to Sydney on Monday afternoon with little to no fanfare.

The cluster of reporters that spoke to Eddie Jones on the way out of Sydney Kingsford Smith Airport was reduced to less than a handful following their 43-12 shellacking at Loftus Versfeld Stadium in Pretoria.

While the weekend’s defeat was not unexpected given the challenges of heading to South Africa to take on the world champions, Kerevi said Jones, who was feisty following the defeat and attacked a journalist for being a “smart arse”, had ensured the Wallabies weren’t stewing on the loss.

“He’s [Jones] been quite good,” Kerevi said.

“But for us, even though it’s our first Test together, we still set ourselves really high standards. It wasn’t up to our standards and this weekend we’ve got to turn that around and get the learnings we had from the weekend and perform better this week.

“Straight after the game, we connected really well, and Eddie made sure of that as a team and as a squad. We’ve got to get back on the horse and got to put out a really good performance that our fans and our country be proud of.”

Eddie Jones is expected to make several changes to his side to take on Argentina. (Photo by Sydney Seshibedi/Gallo Images/Getty Images)

With just three Tests to play before the Wallabies head to France, time is fast running out for the side to adapt under Jones.

But Kerevi said he wasn’t concerned by their first-up defeat.

“No, not at all,” he said. “It’s a marathon, it’s not a full sprint.

“We want to build nicely into the World Cup. We’ve got a deep squad, so each game is an opportunity to get better.”

Jones now faces the challenge of weighing up giving opportunities to find out more about his wider squad and ensuring they find some winning momentum.

Several changes are expected, including across the entire backline. While Ryan Lonergan, who is likely the best goal kicker in the wider squad, is in line to make a debut, too.

How he integrates players returning from injury like Angus Bell and Rob Leota remains to be seen too, with Allan Alaalatoa’s tough evening at the office testament to the fact that you can’t just throw players into the cauldron and expect them to hit the ground running immediately.

Allan Alaalatoa’s struggles on his return from injury showcased the dangers of rushing back players from injury.

Kerevi knows that full well too, having been brought back via the bench after recovering from a hamstring injury suffered on May 28. The injury setback in London occurred after only just returning from a season-ending ACL injury, too.

But the experienced centre said he was ready to start but added that the competitive nature in the squad meant not everyone would be happy.

“Yeah, I definitely put my hand up,” he said.

“The body’s feeling good and the mind’s in great shape. I’ll do whatever is best for the team. But yeah, definitely this week.

“We’ve had a competitive edge at training, everyone pushing each other in those positions and [fellow centre] Lalakai Foketi’s been playing well throughout the season at the Waratahs too, so there’s a lot of opportunities across the board.”

Samu Kerevi has put up his hand to start for the Wallabies but says competition for places is competitive. (Photo by Chris Hyde/Getty Images)

One thing is for sure though, with the Wallabies to face the All Blacks in back-to-back Tests later this month, defeating Cheika’s Argentine side in Parramatta, who they could face in a quarter-final in Marseille, is imperative to kick-start their campaign.

“Building combinations, as well as a couple of wins under our belt, would be great for heading into the Bledisloe, but we’ve got to look into this week first,” Kerevi said.

“Cheika’s going to bring over an Argentinian team that is going to be firing after their game on the weekend, so we’ve got to be right for that.”

Given it was Cheika who gave Kerevi his debut cap, the Wallabies centre knows his former coach will have the Pumas fired up following their heavy 41-12 loss at home.

But Kerevi said it was vital the Wallabies focused on themselves and turned up ready to match the Pumas physically following after being smashed by the Springboks in the contact zone and at the set-piece.

“We’ve still got to focus on ourselves,” he said.

“We’ve got our preparation that we’ve got to focus on and not focus too much on the mentality that they’ll bring, but Argentinians are a really passionate group and a really passionate country, so we’ve got to be ready for that.

“Our backline, our forward pack, we want to be more physical this week. And we need to bring that intensity and match the intensity that South Africa brought last week and we didn’t, so we’ve got to do it this week against Argentina.”

Michael Cheika’s battle with Eddie Jones will continue on Saturday. (Dave Rogers/AFP/Getty Images)

The Test will see Randwick greats Jones and Cheika coach against one another for the ninth time, with the Wallabies coach winning all seven Tests whilst he was in charge of England before his counterpart led Argentina to their maiden win at Twickenham last November.

Curiously, the Wallabies will spend the week preparing in Manly and enjoyed a swim to recover on Monday afternoon, while Cheika’s Pumas booked in to stay in Coogee.

Randwick General Manager Mark Harrison said there was “nothing sinister” at play and if Jones wanted to use Coogee Oval, they would have got their way.

“I think if Eddie wanted to play at Coogee, he would have been staying at Coogee,” Harrison said.

The coaching greats will come together on Sunday at a Randwick function on Sydney Harbour, with bragging rights and World Cup momentum on the line.

“It’s obviously a crucial test match for both sides and they got beaten by similar margins by both New Zealand and South Africa, so one has to get the ascendency in Sydney,” Wallabies and Randwick great Simon Poidevin told The Roar.

“Clearly, it’s a critical one for us given Eddie’s well and truly back running the show. It’s a very critical game.

“Australia has to win this weekend. Definitely, no sentimental feelings there with Cheik. I hope he enjoys next Sunday as the man without the win. It’ll be an interesting get-together.”