Bledisloe Cup 2013: Mckenzie Tweaks Preparation for ‘Must Win’ Game
Wallabies Coach Ewen McKenzie will put an emphasis on defence in preparation for the second game of the Bledisloe Cup on Saturday.
The Australians focused on their attacking tactics coming into the first game and it cost them the game.
The All Blacks were able to penetrate the back line of the Wallabies with seeming ease and it showed an utterly lack of organization, conceding six tries that led to the 47-29 score line.
''We created a different attacking approach. That definitely worked, and that's the hardest part,'' McKenzie told the Sydney Morning Herald (SMH) on Sunday.
''We've got that in place, so we can now attend to some of the more mundane but very important parts of the game that we had less time to practise. We've got very good skills in some of those areas, so we can tidy that up pretty fast.''
The sluggish showing on defence can be attributed to the entire team but Jesse Mogg and James O'Connor were the main culprits. Of the four tackle attempts that Australia made, they missed one, as opposed to the New Zealanders', one out of five.
Limiting turnovers is also one of the Wallabies' main concerns as they were, more often than not, punished by their carelessness of the ball.
'We spoke about making sure we didn't give them those opportunities but at the end of the day you've got to execute under pressure as well,'' said Will Genia to SMH.
''I don't feel deflated. There's a lot of confidence in the fact that we scored 29 points. We had a heavy emphasis on attack during the week because we wanted to reinvent and refresh a few new things, so we've got to make sure we go away and work hard."
''Seven days is a long time. It's an old cliche but I still feel very confident.''
Losing is not an option for the Wallabies on Saturday and McKenzie is looking to make a piecemeal change of his starting line-up, particularly, the back-three.
He is considering placing Israel Folau back to his natural spot at fullback because he was not as effective in his current position as a winger.
''We certainly don't rule out that [Folau] can play in that position ... so we'll be open-minded about that," McKenzie said.
''He's a good player and we practised to have him involved in the game. It just didn't eventuate.''
''We talked about that leading up to the game - the threat that [O'Connor, Mogg and Folau] pose - and I think we were pretty smart in the way that we were able to do that,'' Aaron Cruden confided.
''You're always looking, no matter who you're playing against, to manipulate the back three and if they're up flat, put the ball in behind, or if they're deep, throw it to a wide channel. We did that but we know they're going to mix it up and show different pictures next weekend.''