The Wallabies are hoping their growing bond and a renewed focus on line speed can help them bounce back against the All Blacks on Saturday.
A 15-minute lapse was integral in allowing the Kiwis to wrap up game one at Eden Park, allowing three tries in quick succession.
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Defensive coach Matt Taylor suggests the side dropped their head and went away from their game plan after the Richie Mo'unga intercept, recognising the importance of strong line speed and collisions.
“I think the teams we’ve done well against the All Blacks, you look at Wellington and Suncorp, it’s about line speed and collisions," he told reporters. There’s no secret to that, all sides try to bring good line speed and collision and when a team defends like that, you’ll cause some problems and dent their attack.
“We’ll look to do that a bit more than we did on occasions. I thought the intercept try took a little bit of wind out of our sails, there were periods in defence that we did well in defence but we had a 10 minute period where we switch off and our line speed wasn’t as good as it should’ve been.
“We’re happy with the system but we’re also aware we need to keep improving."
Defence has been a real focus point for the side under Taylor's tenure as defensive coach.
He suggests the disappointing Trans-Tasman performance showed the need for improvement across the board as they look to build their connected line speed.
“The boys have worked really hard on defence. We understood particularly after the Super Trans-Tasman competition it was an area we need to get better in,” he added. “It’s never ideal when you concede 30 points so we need to do that better.
“In terms of our connection and not shooting out, we’re all about connected line speed and we’ve tried to work really hard on that.”
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Fullback Tom Banks believes the growing trust and connectivity of the playing group off the field has enhanced their connection, confident they can put in a good defensive performance to send the series to a Perth decider.
“Definitely, I think defence comes down to attitude and trust,” Banks said on Tuesday. “If you look at how tight we are as a group, it relates on the field.
“We’re trusting a lot inside and in the forward pack, we’re doing a lot of training to make sure we’re getting our systems right and you can see it in the performances we put out.
“Obviously a few tough tries with the intercept their which we’re looking to rectify this weekend but this game on the weekend is going to be won on good defence.”
