The Wallabies are back at Teddington’s Lensbury Hotel, their 2015 Rugby World Cup base, but things are pretty different this time around
Despite a 2-6 Test 2016, halfback Will Genia said these Wallabies weren’t that different from the 2015 version, when they were riding a World Cup wave of momentum.
Genia said it was disappointing that the side let a ‘huge opportunity’ slip in Pretoria, with plenty of chances to win their first game in the South African city undone by poor decision-making.
The 28-year-old said there wasn’t much fundamentally different in the team’s philosophy compared to the squad last year but admitted a lack of confidence might be permeating through the team.
“Maybe it's a confidence thing individually or collectively as a group,” he said.
“Certain parts of our game we're doing well and then certain parts we aren't and then we're not doing that consistently throughout the 80 minutes across the game.”
Genia missed the June series against England but returning to the squad in the past two months, he said little had changed in the working of the team.
“There's little things that we changed along the way in terms of the shape but not too much,” he said.
“I think it's just - we're just letting ourselves down with not executing. We’ve been saying it for a long time now , where we create opportunities and give ourselves a chance in matches and we just don't take them.”
“By not executing those little things, we don't give ourselves the ability to score tries, to make scoring plays and things like that.”
While they are back at a venue that became a second home for them last season, Genia said they wouldn’t simply be trying to replicate that journey.
“It's no secret we stayed here during the World Cup and we obviously had a bit of success so it's nice to come back and have those memories lingering but the other thing is we're under no illusions that it's going to be tough,” he said.
“We're not relying on the fact that it's a comfortable venue for us and that's going to give us an advantage. We're looking forward to working hard and getting stuck in come kick off.”
The Wallabies take on Argentina at Twickenham on Sunday morning at 5:30am (AEDT). Tickets at http://www.ticketmaster.co.uk
