Wallabies coach Robbie Deans believes the crop of newcomers in his team is a prime reason why they savored an emphatic victory over New Zealand last weekend, reports said yesterday.
Australia played some of their best rugby in years to vanquish the All Blacks by close to a record score 34-19 on Saturday to top the Tri-Nations and take a psychological early lead in the four-match Bledisloe Cup series.
New Zealander Deans has galvanized the national team after the despondency over their quarter-final exit to England at last year’s World Cup in France.
Deans fielded eight players who had never faced the All Blacks, but they appeared unintimidated, scoring four tries and finishing just one off their record amount of points in a Bledisloe Test.
“One thing which was evident was that maybe it was an advantage for us to have eight players who hadn’t played the All Blacks previously, because they came in with no baggage, no background of failure. So they simply aspired,” Deans told the Sydney Morning Herald.
Deans said he would use this week to warn his youngsters of the dangers of becoming one-hit wonders for the return match with the All Blacks on Saturday.
The Wallabies head to Auckland not having won there since 1986. The All Blacks have not lost at Eden Park since France beat them there in 1994.
Adding to the tension is that Deans, having been an All Blacks assistant coach, knows how the Kiwis are feeling.
“They would have hated that experience. They will be hurting, and they will be looking to make someone pay — and it’s more likely to be me and the team,” he said. “They would have gone back into their dressing shed, and I wouldn’t imagine it would be a great place to be. And the way they respond to these things gives you an insight into what we are going into.”
Deans expects things to be frostier than usual in Auckland.
“This may now be the most hotly contested Tri Nations. You have one team who are the world champions [South Africa]. You have another [New Zealand] who felt they should have been, and another [Australia] putting a bit of pressure on the other two. That’s great,” he said.
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