Wallabies scrum-half Nic White believes they 'let down' Dave Rennie and the coaching with their Italy defeat, looking to bounce back against world number one Ireland.
White watched from the sidelines as the Wallabies suffered their first loss to the Azzurri in their history, going down 28-27.
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The 32-year-old admitted the rest was needed after a long season, playing 26 games since February.
However, the result still stings for Whtie and the team, looking to 'channel the disappointment' if they wish to rectify their Spring Tour fortunes.
“We need to lean it on, it’s about channelling that (disappointment) which we’ve spoken about,” White said to reporters.
“The boys were properly gutted after the game, it was really flat as you can imagine, really quiet. We don’t want that to hamper performance so we need to channel it the right way.
“The way we can do that is being fully focused on what can help us win this week and put out a good performance. It’s about immensely yourself into your position and getting the role right.
“We need to put out a good performance because anything short of that isn’t going to be good enough.”
“It was extremely disappointing,” flyhalf Bernard Foley added.
“As a squad, we set objectives for this tour and to not live up to that was the biggest disappointment. There’s many areas that we lacked but it was good to see how the guys stayed in the game, when you thought it was done they gave everything to give themselves a chances to win.
The defeat puts significant pressure on Dave Rennie and the coaching staff as they prepare to face the number-one-ranked side in the world.
The side has dropped five of their last six Tests, three by two points or less.
White labelled Rennie and the coaching staff as 'world class', suggesting the players need to perform to that standard, starting on Sunday morning (AEDT).
“We don’t have our heads buried in the sand, we understand the pressure that’s come on (Dave),” White admits.
“It’s disappointing, we feel as a playing group letting him down that he’s got this pressure because we do absolutely love being coached by Dave. He’s a phenomenal coach and the coaching staff here are world-class.
“We as a playing group aren’t there yet, a lot of the pressure that’s coming their way is a whole lot to do with what we’re putting out on the field and a whole lot of moments we could’ve controlled.
“We need to step up as a group and this week’s a chance to show how much we care for Dave and the coaching staff."
