Departing assistant coach Laurie Fisher has a clear plan for his last week with the Wallabies.
“Train well Tuesday, train well Thursday, play well Saturday, have a beer Saturday night.”
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Fisher will leave his post as Wallabies assistant alongside Joe Schmidt on Saturday as they look to end on a high against Italy in Perth.
The legendary Australian coach was Schmidt’s first signing as part of his 2024 overhaul, returning after serving under now-All Blacks coach Dave Rennie in the gold jersey.
It will bring to an end a coaching career that spans over a quarter of a century, initially making his name with the ACT Brumbies, followed by stints in England and Ireland.
The dual departures of Fisher and Schmidt have only heightened the motivation for the players to finish strongly and turn around their poor start to the season.
“They've both been immense for us ever since they've come in Laurie's been here for a bit longer than what Joe has but both of them have helped us as players grow, not only as players, but as humans as well," flyhalf Ben Donaldson said.
“Although the results recently haven't showed, I think there's a lot of growth in this group thanks to these two guys and it’d be nothing better to send them off with a win this week.”
Fisher will step aside as incoming coach Les Kiss prepares to take over at the end of the month with his own coaching staff.
Whilst the results haven’t followed, the experienced assistant can see the growth and will watch on with pride as Kiss guides them to the World Cup next year.
“You're in the game to have a positive influence on the players and coaches that you work with and I've had 27 years of being challenged to do that and I've enjoyed every moment," he explained.
“I just have a feeling that my time is up and it's somebody else's turn to take it forward…It's the course we're charting to get better every time we train and every time we play.
“I'll stand up and cheer if we have two wins over Japan and two wins over Argentina and beat the All Blacks, I'll be the first bloke to knock the top off a beer and say well done lads.”
The challenge for Fisher in his final week is to tidy up the Wallabies’ execution as they search for a complete performance against a hurting Italian side that are also winless in the Nations Championship.
“We're in a good state. I understand that results don't necessarily reflect that but if I look at the playing group now, I think their game understanding of what's required, the fact that you understand what's required doesn't mean you can step out and do that tomorrow and I still see growth in this team every week," he adds.
“When I think back to when we played Wales two years ago in the July Test, we are so far ahead of that rugby team, it's obvious and palpable.
“There's week in, week out growth but the absolute top end is the hardest and that's where we are at the moment between being where we are in world rugby to being challenging the top four teams.”
