Dublin: Wallabies assistant coach Dan McKellar says the team feels like they’ve “let the country down” after a loss to Italy but vehemently rejected former captain Stirling Mortlock’s frank assessment that Australia cannot win next year’s Rugby World Cup.
McKellar also believes it would have been “irresponsible” to pick the same team five Tests in a row on Australia’s spring tour.
The Wallabies have begun preparations for a clash with Ireland in Dublin on Saturday (Sunday AEDT) but are still licking their wounds after a 28-27 loss to Italy that few saw coming.
Australia will be without fullback Tom Banks, who has left the tour with an ankle injury. No replacement has been named yet.
The disastrous result against Italy, albeit with a B-team, prompted Mortlock to rip into the team he once represented.
“There is no way that we are going to win the World Cup next year. We are no chance of doing that,” Mortlock, who captained Australia at the 2007 Rugby World Cup, told AAP this week.
Former Wallabies skipper Stirling Mortlock during his playing days. Credit:AP
“The reality is I don’t see this result against Italy in isolation. It’s not a blip. It was a trainwreck.”
McKellar was quizzed about Mortlock’s comments at the team’s first media conference since the Italy loss.
“That’s Stirling’s opinion. Everyone’s got one. He’s allowed one,” McKellar said. “Do I agree with it? 100 per cent not. There’s a good group of footballers here and there’s a core group of players that are still back in Australia as well.
“What you’ll find is the 33 [players] that go to the World Cup next year are certainly good enough to win that trophy. We’re not worried about World Cup finals too much at the moment. We’re just determined to make sure we get a response this week against the Irish.”
The Wallabies gather in a circle after losing to Italy in Florence.Credit:Getty
The former Brumbies boss elaborated on just how much the result hurt.
“Of course we’re well aware of [criticism],” McKellar said. “I don’t think I’ve been in a more disappointed dressing shed than Saturday afternoon in Florence. The players that didn’t play, the staff, we were shattered.
“When you coach at this level and you lose … you feel like you’ve let the country down. We certainly felt that. That was something we’ve got to review thoroughly.
As pressure increases on Rennie and the Wallabies to finish the tour strongly, McKellar ensured the coaching staff were on the same page and determined to improve the side’s 33 per cent win record this year with two remaining matches against Ireland and Wales.
Wallabies assistant cosch Dan McKellarCredit:Getty
“[The coaches] are very tight,” McKellar said. “I’ll tell you one thing about Dave Rennie; you won’t come across a more composed, calm individual and I think in times of stress – and the reality is we’re under a bit of stress at the moment – you will need a leader who will lead and keep the group tight. We’re as tight and as unified as we ever have been.
“But when you’re faced with adversity, you can’t be having conversations blaming players or blaming other coaches or other departments. We know we have got to be better, we can’t keep rolling out the same [performances].
“What’s important is that Dave doesn’t pick the team on his own. There’s a whole lot of others than carry responsibility around selection.
“When you’re playing five Test matches, to roll out the same 15 [players] week after week would be irresponsible to a certain extent and players can’t handle that these days. The game is physically and mentally draining.
“The other side of it is how are we ever going to develop players? You get to a World Cup next year and two weeks before your first game, you lose a [player like] James Slipper or you lose Nic White and the players behind them haven’t had that experience.
“Then you’re throwing them under the bus at the most important time of the tournament. So you’ve got to develop. You’ll see this week, like we did last week, we picked a team that we thought would beat Italy and we’ll do the same this week with the Irish.”
Discipline has been Australia’s Achilles heel this year and another 16 penalties conceded in Florence has only reiterated the magnitude of the problem.
McKellar said players would be dropped if they didn’t get their act together. “We have got to fix it and the fix is in the room, we can’t be pointing the finger or blaming the officials.
“Selection [is a consequence]. There are players who we have conversations with who we feel are repeat offenders and there are conversations in the background.”
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