The Wallabies will draw inspiration from the Women’s Sevens gold medal effort as they prepare for the first Bledisloe.
Currently in camp on the Central Coast, the Wallabies squad all gathered to watch Tuesday’s Olympic final between Australia and New Zealand, with plenty of connections between the squad.
Wallabies back Adam Ashley-Cooper said the team couldn’t help but be in awe of the women’s achievement and its potential impact on rugby.
I think all the boys set their alarms pretty early to get up. we obviously set our alarm to get up and watch the semi final but we all gathered around the breakfast table this morning to cheer the girls on at 8am,” he said.
“It was really good to watch them finish off a really good journey and a really good campaign.
They've been very successful and a lot of boys in this group have been following their careers individually and also as a collective over the last 12-16 months.
"It's really good to see them finish off that journey with a gold medal at the Olympics.
“That's really, really special.
“Not only special for them but special for the game and everyone was pretty proud to be Australian this morning.”
Asked whether it added a little extra inspiration for their own trans-Tasman clash on August 20, Ashley-Cooper said they couldn’t help but feel that.
“Absolutely,” he said.
“It's always good seeing an Aussie team get over our closest rival the Kiwis so I'm sure they'd be celebrating in style over there in Brazil.”
The Wallabies are currently on the Central Coast for camp ahead of that opening Test, with Ashley-Cooper training is his home town for the first time as a Wallaby, after 114 Tests.
“It’s good to be home that’s for sure,” he said.
"I haven’t had much chance to get back to the coast but funnily enough, I’m here in a Wallabies strip.”
