Last place carries fears for Wallabies

NONE of the Wallabies need reminding about what’s at stake in this weekend’s final Rugby Championship clash with Argentina.

While a win won’t completely stop all the speculation about the future of coach Michael Cheika and the make-up of the squad, a victory should at least provide some shortterm relief and may just be enough to save some heads from the chopping block.

But should the Wallabies lose again, there is no doubt all bets will be off.

Not only will they be condemned to finishing in last place in the championship, but another defeat could be the trigger for Rugby Australia to make changes ahead of the Spring Tour and with the start of the next World Cup less than a year away.

As inside centre Matt Toomua put it: “We need to win, don’t we?

“We need to win for a lot of things, to reconfirm a lot of things that we know we’re doing well behind the scenes but it just gives you some confirmation that you are heading in the right direction.”

Despite losing eight of their past 10 Tests, the Wallabies insist that things are not as bad as they seem and they are close to a breakthrough.

They did show some encouraging signs in last weekend’s 23-12 loss to South Africa in Port Elizabeth but they came away with little to show for it after failing to capitalise on their chances.

“There were definitely some improvements but ultimately you look back and you see a scoreline that doesn’t reflect the win and so you’re down instantly, aren’t you?” Toomua said.

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