HOOPER KICKING HIMSELF OVER PENALTIES
RUGBY UNION: David Pocock has defended Wallabies skipper Michael Hooper over his decision-making following Australia’s bumbling 9-6 loss to Wales.
Hooper conceded he mistakenly went for tries twice instead of taking easy shots for penalty goals.
“I’ll back Hoops’ calls every day, and then I guess you review them after the game,” Pocock said. “In the moment that’s what he wanted to do and I’ll back that for sure.”
Hooper turned down two easily kickable penalties early in the second half, but the Wallabies botched both attempts at a try as Wales won at Cardiff’s Principality Stadium, ending a 13-match losing streak to Australia stretching back to 2009.
“If I had my time again I would have gone for the shot,” Hooper said after the match, in which no try was scored.
“I backed our guys, backed the want to get the try ... but probably my reading of the game there was amiss.
“It was going to come down to penalties in the end.
“Hindsight’s obviously a nice factor but I should have gone for goal.”
In the 51st minute, with the scores locked at 3-all, Hooper went to the corner instead of taking a penalty goal, but his side fumbled the ball from the lineout drive.
Three minutes later, after initially pointing to the posts, Hooper changed his mind and turned down another shot from 25m out.
Australia lost the lineout, after Tolu Latu overthrew the ball, and were suddenly defending their own quarter when Wales kicked downfield and won a turnover. It was crucial to the final result.
Dan Biggar kicked a 77th -minute penalty goal to seal an intense victory, after Matt Toomua drew the Wallabies level at 6-all in the 75th.
These two teams will play each other in the pool stage of the World Cup in Japan next September and Wales have now shaken the monumental monkey off their back, while the Wallabies continue to search for answers after their 10th loss in 13 Tests.
Despite the enormous effort of backrower Pocock, who won several turnovers to keep his side in the hunt, the Wallabies couldn’t conjure a try.
Pocock said there were plenty of reasons to retain belief in what the Wallabies were doing.
“The amount of time you spend together, the work you put in, buying into something that’s bigger than yourself, wanting that team success,” Pocock said.
“The challenge is to learn from the losses. We’ve had plenty of them this year so hopefully we’ve done some good learning and that starts to show in the way that we play.”