Dave Rennie admits his side for Saturday’s do-or-die Bledisloe clash against the All Blacks has been picked with an eye to the future, but is confident if they can play to their potential at the Olympic Stadium they can keep the series alive.
The Wallabies head into Bledisloe III with one of their most inexperienced backlines this century after playmaker James O’Connor joined second playmaker Matt To’omua in the casualty ward.
With few other options to turn to, Rennie has called up uncapped Brumbies duo Noah Lolesio and Irae Simone to make their debuts.
“We’ve gone from 100 and something caps to zero,” Rennie told reporters on Thursday.
“Look, they’re a couple of guys who have played a lot of footy together. Irae’s been excellent. He’s a great communicator.
“We felt we missed some opportunities at Eden Park just through lack of talk, so he’s really strong with and without the ball in regard to our communication. He’s a big man, he can carry and got a good skill-set, kicks well, so we’re pretty excited by that and him playing outside Noah is going to help the young man. They’ve got a good combination and obviously Nic White is from the same club inside him.”
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Joining the duo in the starting lineup is Jordan Petaia, who has been promoted from the bench after his successful return from injury in Auckland to lineup for his fifth Test.
Dane Haylett-Petty’s return helps provide some experience, with the fullback the most capped (37) player in the Wallabies backline.
But the stark challenge ahead of Dave Rennie’s men is summed up in one stat: The Wallabies backline has a combined 106 caps, which is just 12 more than All Blacks halfback Aaron Smith.
Asked if this was a team for now, Rennie said it “has to be”.
“We’ve certainly got an eye for the future, but it’s also about winning on Saturday,” Rennie said.
“We’re going to get a lot better over time, but you’ve got to get results now too and we’re well aware of the quality of the opposition, but it’s exciting for us.
“We’ve got some young men who have been tested and we’re learning lots, but there’s no reason why if we got out and play at our best on the weekend that we can’t get a win.”
And win they must or else the All Blacks will claim the Bledisloe Cup for the 18th straight year.
Rarely does any one team ever have to play three straight Tests against one nation let alone a trio against the All Blacks, but Rennie said what the opening two fixtures across the ditch had reinforced was the need to be accurate all the time.
“We’ve seen where we think we’ve created opportunities for ourselves,” Rennie said.
“If the boys didn’t believe us after week one that if you turn the ball over against the All Blacks or kick loosely that you get punished (they do now). We’re well aware that if we kick, we need to be able to shut them down and apply pressure, if we’re attacking we need to be accurate, and you need to tackle well.
“All the things that we did pretty well in that first Test and we were competitive.
“There’s little areas that we think we can hopefully get some joy, but they’re a good side and both sides should be improving throughout this period.”
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Elsewhere, Rennie admitted that he thought about doing away with lock replacement Rob Simmons and shifting Ned Hanigan to the second-row if need be so he could squeeze two loose-forwards on the bench.
In the end, he has kept the veteran lock on the bench and his lineout work will be crucial, particularly if Saturday is wet as forecast.
Nor are the Brumbies duo the only ones that will debut, with Reds pair Fraser McReight and Tate McDermott set to inject plenty of pace and tempo for the Wallabies in the second half.
Both men have come through the Junior Wallabies pathway, with the former last year guiding them to the under-20s World Cup final, but their selections did raise some eyebrows given the brief cameo of Liam Wright and the solid performances of Jake Gordon in the opening two Tests.
But Rennie said he was hoping the Reds duo could bring a point of different to his side.
“We’re looking for a bit of impact off the bench,” he said.
“I think Jake Gordon’s been really strong and probably unlucky (to be dropped); we were always keen to give some of our young men a crack.
“They’ve had big Super seasons, so they should come in with confidence. Tate’s electric and if we need to speed the game up it’ll be great bringing him on. Fraser, he’s so strong over the ball and he’s grown a lot in the last five weeks too. Obviously Hoops has had his arm around him, so he’s going to get better and better; it’s just exciting that he’s going to get an opportunity at such a young age.”
