All eyes on Scotland for Wallabies

Mon, Nov 20, 2017, 6:00 PM
Beth Newman
by Beth Newman
Samu Kerevi has built on a solid 2016 season with an even better 2017 and with one Test left in the season is chomping at to have one last crack in the gold jersey when the Wallabies face Scotland this weekend.

Scotland might be new ground for Samu Kerevi, but he’ll likely be facing off against a familiar face at Murrayfield on Saturday.

The 23-year-old is on his first Spring Tour, though he featured at Twickenham against Argentina last year, and said he was adapting to the different conditions.

“It's obviously a lot colder...not the Brissy weather we have back at home,” he said.

“All the teams are pretty physical, which I don't mind too much.

“A lot of kicking obviously from the weekend so a lot of running back and trying to get back in the line.”

Another week in wet weather will be beneficial for the Wallabies, who were treated to sunshine in London until a grim game day caught them somewhat unawares, but Kerevi said the wet wouldn’t change their mentality.


“Yeah definitely. Bernie (Attack coach Stephen Larkham) has been in our heads about practicing extra skills, obviously kicking is massive here in n hemisphere and they have big forwards,” he said.

“We want to practice those extra skills to have in the back pocket but we still want to play how we want to play in Australia and that's running rugby.

“We want to keep that in the forefront.”

It’s not just on-field that things are a bit different to back home for the centre, Kerevi relishing the atmosphere of some of the world’s rugby cauldrons.

“They have a lot of passion. I guess one thing for me was the atmosphere in both Wales and England, the atmosphere they have, the support they have throughout the game with the songs and that,” he said.

“Playing in (Cardiff’s) Millennium Stadium was another dream come true...I’d been playing there a lot on (video game) Rugby '08 when I was a kid, so to actually play there was something special.”


Ben Toolis can't wait to tackle New Zealand. Photo: Getty ImagesKerevi’s former GPS clubmate Ben Toolis is likely to line up in the second row for Scotland, with his twin brother Alex currently playing for the Rebels.

“I always knew he was a talented player since he was coming up at GPS (club) with his brother (Alex),” he said.

“(It’s a) credit to how far he has come now.”

This Scotland team will be a stronger outfit than the Wallabies faced in June, when they were missing players through the Lions series and injuries, but Kerevi, who also missed out on that Test with injury, said Australia wasn’t afraid.

“I don’t think fear is the word we want to use,” he said.

On the flipside, Kerevi said there wasn’t any residual anger left over from the England loss, with the Wallabies quick to shelve finger-pointing and knuckle down in Edinburgh.

“I don’t think the boys are angry at all,” he said.

“We're not blaming anyone. At the end of the day it is on us, We're not a team that pushes any blame on anyone. No excuses.”

Australia takes on Scotland on Saturday November 25, kicking off at 2:30pm local, Sunday 1:30am AEDT, LIVE on beIN Sports and SBS Viceland.

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