The word ‘belief’ has come up almost every day of the Wallabies’ World Cup but winger Drew Mitchell says it's the actions not the words that will define this team.
Mitchell said belief was the factor that made them perform so well under pressure on Saturday against Wales, thought it would also be a result.
“It’s one thing speaking about it but we’ve been put in those situations in training and games, you need belief to get yourself out of those situations,” he said.
“You gain belief as you go through but you also need to go into games with a great deal of belief.”
Mitchell said that steely belief was a strength of coach Michael Cheika, who has found a way to embrace the team as a sum of united individuals.
“I think that’s something he’s (Cheika)very good at is instilling that belief in the squad and also within individuals to play his game and express yourself the way you do,” he said.
Mitchell said games like the Wales match galvanised the group.
“We’ve been working very hard for a long time in our lead up and our campaign for those types of scenarios,” he said.
“We knew it was going to be tough and there was going to be pain out there tonight and when we were in those situations we almost bound together even stronger and worked even harder for each other.
“That’s something with Cheik and the coaching staff that he’s trying to instil in us but also something we would hope our spectators and supporters can see and engage with and buy into.
“We hope they see that, how much we’re working for it and how much it means to us.”
After a bruising encounter, the Wallabies have an extended eight-day turnaround before facing Pool B runner-up Scotland on Sunday afternoon (Monday morning AEDT)
They will face the Scots in their third consecutive match at Twickenham, completing a British trifecta in as many weeks.
Mitchell said their recent familiarity with the ground, where they normally play only once a year . would not make a difference this week,
“We’ve played here a couple of times here but at the end of the day it’s still an away game for both sides,” he said.
“We’ll have a couple of days off and prepare.
“I haven’t seen too many of Scotland’s games, take the time to look at their game and prepare as best we can.”
