Les Kiss expects a refocused Wallabies outfit in the second Test against New Zealand after a heavy defeat on Saturday ended his unbeaten start as coach.
Following five Tests without a loss since taking charge of Australia in July, Kiss and his men copped a reality check at Eden Park in Auckland, going down 50-19.
“Once they got their momentum it was hard to wrestle it back,” Kiss said after the rampant All Blacks scored five second-half tries.
“The lessons are there. If you can’t get your strengths going and their strengths grow, it makes it a difficult game.”
Next week’s second Bledisloe Cup Test in Sydney takes on extra significance because the teams will clash there in the World Cup.
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“We’ll try and turn the dial in the right areas so we can go to Sydney and return fire,” said Kiss.
Despite the emphatic loss Kiss said his first defeat since succeeding Joe Schmidt shouldn’t halt the momentum he felt was building.
He said the Australians didn’t get carried away after upsetting the Springboks 42-38 two weeks ago and likewise their confidence levels wouldn’t be dented by a heavy loss.
A key to victory over the world champions was Australia’s ability to claim high kicks, but Kiss admitted they were eclipsed by New Zealand in that area.
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“You’ve got to take a hat off to them, they won aerial battles and they profited off those things very well,” he said.
“Their kicks were a lot more accurate than our kicks, that’s for sure, so it was just hard to get a footing in that second half.
“The boys always said we’ve got work to do, and it doesn’t change now.
“We’ll have a good look at that game like we always have and then get into the nuts and bolts of what we feel we need to get right.”
– AFP
Photo: Fiona Goodall/Getty Images
The post Kiss reloads to ‘return fire’ Down Under appeared first on SA Rugby magazine.
Les Kiss expects a refocused Wallabies outfit in the second Test against New Zealand after a heavy defeat on Saturday ended his unbeaten start as coach.
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