Wallabies ready to bounce back against Scots
Australia coach Eddie Jones insists his squad are in much better shape for tomorrow’s second Test against Scotland than they were when they lost to France last weekend.
The Wallabies were brought crashing down to earth when they were humbled 27-14 in Paris – a week after they had overcome the Scots at Murrayfield.
Jones points to a lack of leadership and communication as the reason they lost in France.
He said: “There has been a lot of yelling and screaming in training, and we have had a series of meetings to reinforce how we want to play. It was communication, and in the second half we could not work any scrum ball.
“A lot of our backs made mistakes and we lacked assertiveness. We let ourselves down; we did not trouble the French defence.”
Jones is adamant his team will get it right at Hampden Park, though. “I mind losing games but I don’t mind it so much if we do it playing the way we want to play. We didn’t do that on Saturday – we were easy pickings for the French defence.
“The way the players have responded has been excellent, however. The leadership has been excellent, so all the signs are there that we will follow through.
“We have to be more responsible on the field and we have to follow things through, and I think we all acknowledge we have not been doing that.”
Scotland are in bullish mood following their 100-8 demolition of Japan in the unfamiliar surroundings of McDiarmid Park last weekend.
But Jones notes a series of factors favoured the Scots going into the game. “Without being disrespectful to Japan, they were awful,” he said.
“I don’t think they had a very good preparation for the game; they looked extremely disjointed and they were a long way away from where they were in the World Cup.
“It’s disappointing for world rugby that you had a side that did reasonably well in the World Cup and then came out to play like that. That is not good for rugby.
“Having said that, I think Scotland obviously played better and certainly gained some confidence from that result.
“They put together some pretty positive phases in the game and they will go to Hampden Park with more confidence than they did going into the Murrayfield game [against Australia].”
