Sydney
Wallabies skipper Michael Hooper admitted Friday his team were in a “dark” place this week after being thrashed by the All Blacks, but insisted the scoreline didn’t tell the full story. New Zealand’s 43-5 rout in Sydney last weekend was their highest winning margin against Australia and sealed the trans-Tasman Bledisloe Cup for an 18th straight year with a game to spare.Hooper said the defeat was crushing for the team, coming on the back of a 27-7 loss in Auckland after a battling 16-16 draw in Wellington. fourth and final game is in Brisbane on Saturday, with both teams flying in and out on match day from Sydney due to coronavirus restrictions. “It took us a while to get out of the hole to be fair,” Hooper said. “I know I can speak for myself that it was pretty dark, it’s still a bit dark, letting that opportunity slip and particularly the performance we put out there. “It wasn’t up to the standard that we’ve set for ourselves.” Australia were outplayed in all departments in Sydney with the All Blacks physically too strong and again exposing the Wallabies’ defensive wall. Coach Dave Rennie has made a raft of changes, with Reece Hodge, usually a wing or fullback, promoted to playmaker, Tom Banks in for Dane Haylett-Petty and Tom Wright taking over from Filipo Daugunu in the backs. Lachlan Swinton has been handed a debut at flanker, while veteran Rob Simmons has been brought in for the injured Lukhan Salakaia-Loto in a new-look pack. “How do we prepare for this week? We’ll obviously be… rectifying some of that stuff from last week and improving,” said Hooper.—AFP
