Fired- up Falou to fly into attack
FED up with losing to New Zealand year after year and having his own legacy questioned, Israel Folau says he’s willing to risk incurring the wrath of petty officials by going into full attack mode when the Wallabies face New Zealand in the Bledisloe Cup opener.
Folau hasn’t been given a proper explanation as to why he copped a one- match ban for his innocuous contact with Ireland skipper Peter O’Mahony in their June Test series but says he no longer cares.
Folau is so confident his aerial attacks are within the rules of the game that he’s preparing to gamble the house that his hunch is right by going all- out against the All Blacks.
“I believe my technique is fair play,” he said. “I’ll attack the ball at every opportunity I get.”
Folau has the Wallabies’ backing and expects to play in his preferred position at fullback, giving him the green light to launch his aerial assaults from any part of the field.
Wallabies coach Michael Cheika had hinted that he might switch him to outside centre but Folau knocked that idea on the head, leaving Reece Hodge as the obvious candidate to wear the No. 13 jersey after the season- ending injuries to Samu Kerevi and Tevita Kuridrani.
“Well, I’ve been training at fullback so I haven’t been training anywhere else,” Folau said. “But whatever decisions that Cheik makes, it’s best for the team, but I don’t see myself playing any other position other than 15.”
Like his senior teammates, Folau knows he’s running out of chances to get his hands on the Bledisloe Cup and end New Zealand’s 16 years of gloating.
Folau was part of the Wallabies side that made the last World Cup final but he knows there will always be a question mark about his and the team’s achievements until they knock off their trans- Tasman rivals.
“It’s not rocket science that you definitely want to win it,” he said. “Not only for myself but the rest of the squad and Wallabies fans in general, it’s been a pretty tough time … this time of year.
“It’s something as players you really get sick of being on the losing end of things but if we could win the Bledisloe back it will give not only the team great confidence but Australian rugby as a whole a great boost. You want to leave something behind for the current players and for the players to come.”
There’s another possible carrot in front of the 29- year- old Folau who comes off contract at the end of this season. Following on from Michael Hooper’s announcement last week that the skipper has just signed a five- year deal with Rugby Australia that will take him through to the 2023 World Cup, Folau wants to keep all his options open.
“It’s obviously enticing, very exciting with obviously the group that we have here right now,” he said. “There’s no doubt that that’s something that I look at as well.”