Wallabies coach Ewen McKenzie is backing his decision to start Kurtley Beale, retaining an unchanged side ahead for Saturday’s second Bledisloe Cup clash with the All Blacks.
Beale will remain as the Wallabies’ first choice at five-eighth ahead of Bernard Foley after a quality outing in last weekend’s 12-12 draw in Sydney.
Beale responded to criticism of his selection by All Blacks coach Steve Hansen– who claimed Beale may have only made the Wallabies side to fend off pursuit from League clubs- by kicking all of Australia’s points in last Saturday’s encounter in front of 68,627 fans at ANZ Stadium.
With Beale’s spot firmly entrenched in the team for now, the Michael Hooper-led squad head to Auckland confident of becoming the first Wallabies side to grab a win in the All Black stronghold in 28 years.
“We were impressed with the pressure we were able to apply in the opening Test and, despite some errors, were pleased with the intent of the group to continue attacking despite the poor weather conditions,” McKenzie said Tuesday.
“I imagine both teams are excited by the prospect of a dry evening in Auckland on Saturday night, which will have an influence on the way the game is played.
“For us, we know we need to be more clinical in certain areas, but overall we feel the same group of guys deserve the opportunity to have another crack.”
A draw isn’t enough to appease Aussie expectations after a run of poor form against the All Blacks. Australia last won in Auckland back in 1986 and, despite a couple of tight draws, the Wallabies are yet to claim a victory over their nearby neighbours in three years.
The Wallabies were convincingly thumped 3-0 in last year’s Bledisloe Cup series, including an embarrassing 47-29 result in McKenzie’s first game as coach in the series opener.
“Selection is never easy, although we’ve made a lot of tough decisions in this space over the past 12 months with the ultimate goal of winning games,” McKenzie continued.
“You’re always looking to improve and I’m confident the sum of those hard choices has put us in a better position today.
“While we didn’t quite get there on Saturday night, I do know that we’ve made good progress since our first Test against New Zealand a year ago.
“That gives us some confidence heading into what will be an extremely tough challenge in Auckland on Saturday night.”
Bledisloe Cup II Australian Line-up: Israel Folau, Pat McCabe, Adam Ashley-Cooper, Matt Toomua, Rob Horne, Kurtley Beale, Nic White, Wycliff Palu, Michael Hooper (c), Scott Fardy, Rob Simmons, Sam Carter, Sekope Kepu, Nathan Charles, James Slipper. Replacements: James Hanson, Pek Cowan, Ben Alexander, Will Skelton, Scott Higginbotham, Nick Phipps, Bernard Foley, Tevita Kuridrani.
Photo: Matt King/Getty Images
