Chieka encouraged by display in draw
Australia coach Michael Cheika said his side did enough to win their drawn Rugby Championship encounter with South Africa at Bloemfontein on Saturday and are now looking to finish the four-nation tournament with an away win in Argentina next weekend.
Cheika said the 27-27 draw at the Free State Stadium, which ensured New Zealand were guaranteed the title for a fifth time in the past years before they beat Argentina 36-10, was disappointing, with the only positive being that it was an away fixture after the sides had also played out a 23-23 stalemate at Perth last month.
“Obviously, playing away from home feels a little bit better but not a lot. We want to win footy matches, fans are getting up late in Australia to watch us play,” Cheika said.
“I know they would have probably enjoyed the match. I know they would have enjoyed the courage we showed, we kept coming back. But we want to win rugby matches.
“I thought we worked hard enough to get a win but it wasn’t to be. What I was pleased about was the resilience we showed.
“They obviously came with a strategy to run us out of puff on the Highveld but we were able to manage it and it came down to a couple of little bits of pieces.”
Chieka added that the contest being played at altitude proved taxing to both teams.
The Wallabies led by three points with 10 minutes remaining but could have also lost the game had home fly-half Elton Jantjies kicked a last-minute penalty. Australia complete their Rugby Championship programme against Argentina in Mendoza on Saturday.
“It’s a tough trip, there’s no doubt about it,” captain Michael Hooper said.
“You’ve got to overcome these speed bumps and we’ve done it before, so we’ll be leaning on some of the guys to help the younger guys.”
Elsewhere, forwards Rory Arnold and Lopeti Timani, and utility back Izaia Perese have been released from the squad and will not be involved in the Argentina clash.
“They have all got National Rugby Championship games next weekend and the week after before we come back in for the Bledisloe camp,” Cheika said. “Wherever we can, we want them to play footy.”