Wallabies coach Dave Rennie loves State of Origin and says his side was given a lesson on how to win by the Queensland Maroons on Wednesday night.
As a team, the Wallabies watched at their training base in the Hunter Valley the Maroons overturn a 10-0 deficit to beat hot-favourites the NSW Blues 18-14 at Adelaide Oval. They did so through holding the ball, completing their sets, taking their chances and applying pressure with linespeed in defence.
Only days earlier, his young Wallabies side too fell behind early against another the All Blacks but rather than claw their way back they suffered a humbling record 43-5 loss against their trans-Tasman rivals.
Pushed passes, rushed kicks and muddled communication hurt Rennie’s young Wallabies, who blooded a new 10-12 combination for the first time in more than half-a-century.
The Origin concept is something that Rugby Australia is toying with including in their own fixture, with a State of Union something Chairman Hamish McLennan has said he’s keen to get up and running.
Rennie, too, said he loved the State of Union concept but added finding room in rugby’s hectic schedule could prove difficult.
“Yeah, I mean, State of Origin’s been massive for a long time and it’s a big game in New Zealand as well,” Rennie told reporters at his team announcement for Bledisloe IV in Brisbane on Saturday.
“I guess a lot of it is fitting it in the calendar, but I love the concept.”
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Nonetheless, Rennie said there were lessons that could be taken from rugby’s cousins.
“I loved the game last night,” the new Wallabies coach said.
“What I loved about it was Queensland found themselves down and under pressure and they fought their way back into it.
“Versus what we tried to do last week which was try and create a few miracles and lacked patience.
“There’s a good lesson for us as well.”
Back-rower Harry Wilson, who is from NSW but plays for the Reds, too marvelled at the Maroons’ composure and said the Wallabies needed to same the composure to compete with the All Blacks.
"Obviously, especially the last few games, we haven't started very well, just the way Queensland (didn't)," Wilson said.
"Even when they were down, they were very calm and I guess didn't get too flustered.
"Then in the second half, they just went out there and played footy and just slowly grind and grind until they got the points on the board.
"Obviously we don't want to be that in position early in games when we're down by a fair few points.
"But it is something I guess we can look on if we are down that we can just get get back to playing the right footy, playing in their end and building pressure, which could be very beneficial for us."
While the All Blacks are once again hot favourites to beat the Wallabies on Saturday night, Rennie said their trans-Tasman rivals weren’t unbeatable.
“The frustration for us is we’ve lacked the patience or lacked communication or lacked the accuracy to expose them, we still expect those opportunities to be there (against the All Blacks),” Rennie said.
“It takes courage and takes a lot of work-rate off the ball, but as we showed in Wellington, if you can hang onto the ball you can apply a bit of pressure.
“Really, we need to be at our best to knock the All Blacks over and we need to apply pressure to them so they’re not at their best, and that’s what we saw in Wellington and that’s what we need to see this weekend.”
Rennie responded to last weekend's heavy loss by making a number of changes to his side for Bledisloe IV, including bringing in Reece Hodge at No.10 ahead of Noah Lolesio.
READ MORE:
SELECTION SHOCK: Why Rennie has turned to Hodge for Bledisloe finale
ANALYSIS: How the All Blacks shattered the Wallabies' hopes and the tactic Rennie must 'rethink'
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