'Consistent' Wallabies eye All Black scalp
BLEDISLOE CUP THREE: Consistency is the new buzzword in the Australia camp, as they build up towards their encounter with New Zealand in the International Stadium, Yokohama, on Saturday.
The Wallabies hope to start their year-end campaign on a more positive note than what the bulk of their results on the international stage in 2018 have been.
The Wallabies suffered two heavy defeats (13-38 in Sydney and 12-40 in Auckland) to the All Blacks this year.
In fact, they have won just three of their nine Tests – beating Ireland 18-9 in Brisbane, before losing the June series one-two, beating the Springboks 23-18, before again suffering back-to-back defeats, and the ending the Rugby Championship with a 45-34 win over a demoralised Los Pumas.
Australia knows they need to be more consistent if they are to challenge the best teams in the world, according to returning centre Samu Kerevi.
Kerevi was speaking to the media in Japan for the third Bledisloe Cup clash against New Zealand on Saturday – with the All Blacks having already wrapped up the annual series two-nil.
The Wallabies will, however, look to build momentum for next year’s World Cup with a victory in Yokohama.
Kerevi, 25, is making a return to the Australian squad, having missed the last six games with a bicep injury sustained in June.
“It has been really hard to watch from the sidelines,” Kerevi said at the team’s training base in Tokyo on Tuesday.
“Consistency with results is the biggest thing for us and this consistency is something we want to improve over this five-week tour.”
Australia’s rankings have dropped to No.7 in the world and they know they must improve in the coming weeks, with matches against Wales, Italy and England to come after the Bledisloe clash.
Kerevi wanted his side to lay down a marker in Japan, who host the 2019 Rugby World Cup in less than a year.
“This weekend will be a big game, here in Japan with the World Cup not too far away so hopefully it is a rehearsal,” the Reds centre said.
“For us, it is about being consistent in training and doing the little things so when we do come up against the best in the world then we have prepared and ticked all the boxes.”
Kerevi played about 30 minutes as his cousin’s team claimed the top gong the Byron Bay Sevens and while he may not be able to play 80 minutes against the All Blacks just yet, the star centre is confident of playing a role of some sort in Yokohama.
“For me, it was about playing that Byron Bay Sevens. That was my confidence,” Kerevi said.
“It wasn’t just about the match fitness but seeing about how the injury would feel under pressure.
“When I tore my bicep at the time and I hadn’t played any footy and I’d just had training and that and there wasn’t any contact or anything like that so as much as the match fitness was a big thing for me, just [getting] that confidence to back myself and make that big hit if I had to or if I wanted to, that was more for myself.
“So playing that Byron Bay Sevens was really important for me to get that confidence back and just that happiness in playing footy.
“You play better when you’re happy and if I’m not happy with my conditioning or with my body and how it’s feeling when I play, and if I hadn’t tested it out at the weekend, I wouldn’t be putting my hand up for selection this week.”
The Wallabies would certainly welcome a player of Kerevi’s calibre straight back into the starting XV if and when he returns to full match fitness.
With Reece Hodge sidelined by a fractured ankle, Kerevi is the natural choice to fill that hole.
But with the Reds star uncertain as to how many minutes he can play Israel Folau may be the man to move infield.
One of Sefa Naivaulu, Jack Maddocks and Tom Banks may then slot in on the wing to fill the void left by Folau.
