Disneyland backdrop fits the bill

RUGBY UNION: There has been a neat symmetry to the Wallabies staying so close to Tokyo Disneyland this week, because their season has been a roller-coaster through Fantasyland and Star Wars to reach today’s crazy Big Thunder ride against the All Blacks.

The unkind would suggest Dumbo the Flying Elephant could have worked with more precision to win key lineouts during Australia’s poor threewin, six-loss international season, which could still get back on track with a statement in Yokohama against the Kiwis.

Fantasyland? Maybe. Twelve tries were run through and around the Wallabies in Sydney and Auckland in August when, most tellingly, 11 were scored beyond the 37-minute mark.

The Wallabies were too often outworked – their shabby regrouping in defence meant not enough bodies in the way to slow the turnovers and the All Blacks’ counter-attacking.

Coach Michael Cheika is adamant that “outworking” the All Blacks is the key today.

His message is: “Let’s rip into it from the kick-off through to the five minutes before halftime, the five minutes after half-time, the five minutes before the end of the game and the five minutes in extra time if necessary.”

This is a one-off Test, with the Bledisloe Cup already locked in its Kiwi vault for a 16th year, but there is a subplot to this Test – both camps are using the week to get accustomed to Japan and its culture with the Rugby World Cup less than a year away.

Today’s Test is being played at the 69,000-seat Yokohama International Stadium, which will host the World Cup final.

“There is no point in having the experience of playing in that stadium if you aren’t going to be there,” Cheika said.

“We want to be in that stadium and we want to prepare the best we can to perform in there on Saturday.”

Tokyo Disneyland bills the Big Thunder ride as “going through darkness” and “crazy drops”.

The Wallabies and their fans have had enough of that this season. Cinderella’s fairytale has a much better ring.