Paying so dearly for errors against the Kiwis are tough and timely lessons for the Wallabies’ top contenders heading into a Test series where the French will punish the same carelessness.
Queensland Reds duo Tate McDermott and Liam Wright today saw that silver lining as hard as it still is to digest the 1-14 ledger in Super Rugby Trans-Tasman.
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If the Australians can absorb the lessons for the eToro French series, the pain might just have a pay-off in being more clinical and Test-ready.
“We had a good win last weekend but we have a massive game on Friday night against the Blues to back it up,” halfback McDermott said of meeting New Zealand’s table-leaders at Suncorp Stadium.
“Against the Kiwis, we are really paying for errors. That’s a really important lesson going into a big Test series against the French.
“Not that I can talk from Test experience having only played two but any error is magnified in the Test arena.
“Against the Crusaders, I think we made 17 and that’s 17 opportunities for the opposition to punish you. And we were punished (63-28).
“We were really hard on ourselves in terms of the error count going into that win over the Chiefs (40-34) because we listened to the wake-up call.
“In Australia, we were probably guilty of a ruck watching during Super Rugby AU. The Kiwis don’t commit too many players there and spread the ball quickly so that’s another adjustment we’ve had to make.
“You need the Kiwis to test where you truly are. At the moment, we are just not there across the board but there has been some battle-hardening.”
McDermott was a long-haired 15-year-old when the French last toured Australia in 2014. He has been doing his homework on their new breed, starting with dynamic halfback Antoine Dupont.
Three Tests against the French in 11 days in Sydney (July 7), Melbourne (July 13) and Brisbane (July 17) is certain to create more chances across the Wallabies’ squad than in a more spaced-out series.
McDermott and flanker Wright got in the mood with a little pastry-loading to their diets at Brisbane’s Mica Brasserie at Newstead on Wednesday.
“The French coming here is a really exciting challenge,” McDermott said.
“Just from watching them (on TV), they’ve got some really world-class players who have stepped up in the last two years.
“They are probably in the top three teams in the world at the moment.
“Antoine Dupont is all class. He’s someone I’ve tried to watch over the past few years, he scores a lot of tries (10 in 32 Tests). His bread and butter are passing and his excellent support lines. His kicking is world class.
“It’s probably between him and Aaron Smith for the best halfback in the world at the moment.
“It’s really exciting for any of the Australian halfbacks going up against him.”
Wright also saw the battle-hardening plusses because playing the Kiwis has exposed areas of the Australian game not put under such a blow torch during Super Rugby AU.
“Super Rugby AU was more set-piece orientated whereas the Kiwis are a lot more on the go. They’ll see a quick tap opportunity and take it,” Wright said.
“We took too long to adapt to the way they play and adapt our own style.
“They’ll punish you on errors (right to the final 10 minutes of games) and that’s where fitness comes in.
“We’ve tried to get accustomed to playing against their more skill and fitness-based style.
“Yes, there’s pain in the short term. We had it handed to us by the Crusaders (in a 63-28 loss) but in the longer term you take the learnings and improve.
“The Crusaders are the organisation we want to get to as a team. Yeah, it can hurt the ego a bit going from the top of Super Rugby AU to 0-2 a fortnight later but we enjoying playing against that fast and furious style.”
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Wright said there was no way the French, No.5 in the world rankings, would be underrated.
“There’s no reason to underrate them. They have a great backrow, a tough tight five, they are all quite skilful as players and they are coached to let the ball fly and try some crazy things,” Wright said.
"It will be an exciting series for sure."
