Puts extra pressure on Wallabies
on occasion, using it to help decide line-ball selections.
He will have no such luxury this time, but Larkham said that didn’t mean the Wallabies would play it safe at the selection table, insisting any new faces would simply have to hit the ground running.
‘‘We’ve been reviewing all of the Super Rugby players each week and have a good idea of who is going well and who we think we might select for the test matches.
‘‘But there will obviously be some decision making to be made after that last game, depending on how they’ve pulled up really.
‘‘We’ve got guys injured and are still waiting for some guys to come back and play some rugby. We don’t want to throw them straight into rugby if they are coming off an injury break.’’
While the schedule looks less than ideal for the Wallabies for game one, Larkham said there would be no excuse for the home side and he felt significant strides had been taken in 2017.
‘‘We made a real positive step last year with the programme, beating New Zealand and probably should have won the Bledisloe,’’ he said. ‘‘There’s a fair bit of belief in the team now and that carried through to the northern hemisphere tour, even if we probably dropped away in the last two performances.’’
The second of the three-test series is in Melbourne on June 16 before it wraps up in Sydney on June 23.
‘‘And it’s not skill errors . . . it’s just lazy stuff like not getting back onside. I think we gave away seven or eight penalties in the first half and statistically, if you give away more than 10 penalties in a Super Rugby game, you’re going to battle to win that game.’’
The Rebels also struggled with their set piece, winning just more than half of their scrums compared to 87 per cent for the Stormers.
The hosts held a comfortable 24-6 lead early in the second half but the Rebels fought back after making a number of substitutions to their forward pack, with winger Sefanaia Naivalu scoring two tries.
‘‘I thought there was a lot of stuff that we did well in the game,’’ Wessels said.
‘‘We got the ball in hand, we caused them some problems defensively and we were finding some holes.’’
Despite the disappointment of the South Africa tour, Wessels is still hopeful of pushing for a finals spot with experienced players such as Will Genia, Dane HaylettPetty and Ben Daley due to return from injury.
The Rebels sit in second place in the Australian conference, three points behind the Waratahs, who have a game in hand.
‘Wessels confirmed Genia would be fit to take on the Crusaders in Melbourne on Friday night, with Dane and Ross Haylett-Petty also a chance to play. - AAP