Wallabies ‘not looking for excuses’
Downcast Wallabies coach Dave Rennie has refused to use his long injury list as an excuse for their test series defeat, saying they had the team and game plan to beat England.
Six years after his team’s three-test whitewash, England coach Eddie Jones inflicted more pain on the side that he oversaw for five years.
The gut-wrenching 21-17 victory on Saturday night at the SCG sealed a 2-1 series win for the visitors.
‘‘It’s a silent change room at the moment,’’ said Wallabies captain Michael Hooper. ‘‘It was a deciding match at a stadium that probably won’t see rugby again for a while. We had every intention to win, so we’re gutted.’’
Rennie was also shattered after the Wallabies were unable to finish off multiple attacking raids, let down by errors at key moments.
They started better than in the Brisbane test but couldn’t turn territory and possession into points.
‘‘We just needed to turn that field position into points. I think we did enough but you’ve got to be clinical and take opportunities,’’ Rennie said.
‘‘You’ve got to give credit to their defence, they barred up and created enough turnovers to keep us at bay.’’
Australia were missing 11 players due to injury or suspension but Rennie said they’d built enough depth to topple
England, who also lacked experience across the park.
‘‘We had a good enough side on the field to win,’’ Rennie said.
‘‘What it highlights is we’re creating really good depth and you’ve got a guy like Nick Frost who did really well. Injuries are part of the game, you’ve got to find a way, haven’t you?‘‘
England skipper Courtney Lawes said after the game his team was motivated by comments by Australian players about prop Ellis Genge, and being called Poms.
‘‘They gave us a good bit of fuel in the press, talking a lot of smack about us which motivated us,’’ Lawes said.
‘‘We didn’t really fire that many shots but we found a way to win.’’
Rennie said there was nothing in the comments by his players.
South Africa held off Wales 30-14 in the third test to clinch their series 2-1 in Cape Town.
The Springboks led throughout and had tries by first five-eighth Handre Pollard, hooker Bongi Mbonambi and captain Siya Kolisi.
South Africa were playing under pressure after letting a solid lead slip in the second test to lose to Wales on home soil for the first time and send the series to a decider.
‘We approached it as a final, which it was, and luckily we pulled it through,’’ said lock Eben Etzebeth, who became the seventh South African to play 100 tests.
Edinburgh-based Emiliano Boffelli scored a last-gasp try for Argentina to overcome Scotland 34-31 on Saturday and win their first home series in 15 years.
In the series-deciding third test, Scotland led by 15 points with 30 minutes to go and 11 points with 15 minutes left but failed to manage a tight, gripping contest and made key errors to keep Argentina in the hunt.
The Pumas never got down, no matter how deep the hole. They scored the last three tries, the last in the 81st minute with brilliant execution. Given a scrum in front of the posts, they shoved Scotland back, set up ruck ball, and passed quickly left to unmarked winger Boffelli, who stepped inside one defender and went over the tryline in the corner to a huge roar at the new Estadio Unico Madre de Ciudades.