Northern Edition

Select Edition

Northern Northern
Southern Southern
Global Global
New Zealand New Zealand
France France

'Australia hasn't lost to New Zealand in 14 days' - Reds captain taking confidence from latest Super Rugby streak

(Photo by Tracey Nearmy/Getty Images)

The Queensland Reds’ missed opportunities are putting Liam Wright’s leadership qualities to the test but the first-year captain is holding firm ahead of one of Super Rugby’s most daunting assignments.

ADVERTISEMENT

All four Reds losses this season have come despite them holding second-half leads, with Saturday’s 33-23 defeat at home to the Sharks another jarring blow for a side optimistic of playing finals.

They meet the Crusaders in Christchurch on Friday, Super Rugby’s three-time defending champions fresh from a bye and fuelled by national pride after the Brumbies and Melbourne Rebels notched wins in New Zealand in the past fortnight.

The Reds (1-4 with seven competition points) missed a chance to draw within striking distance of the Brumbies (3-1 and 13 points) and acknowledge few give them a chance of continuing Australia’s rare and recent run of success across the Tasman.

“We were reeling a bit; it was another game we led at half time we could have taken and had plenty of opportunities we let slip and makes it tough going into a game against the defending champs,” 22-year-old Wright said.

“I saw a little thing on the internet that Australia hasn’t lost to New Zealand in 14 days or something … obviously our job’s pretty hard but it’s one we’ll make sure we’re up to.

https://www.instagram.com/p/B9Kv7VHAqGv/

“The way we respond to this will be big, not just in terms of wins-losses but the way we conduct ourselves, especially on the training paddock and I’m going to make sure the boys respond well during the week.”

ADVERTISEMENT

The Reds’ rolling maul, in defence and attack, has struggled while their line-out and scrum was also exploited by the Sharks at Suncorp Stadium.

It left Wright short on options when awarded penalties but aside from some basic skill errors, he said their blueprint was a winning one.

Related
A lack of mental toughness is a thorn in Queensland’s side

“Our group’s still very tight. We know what we’re capable of and that our systems work,” he said.

“It’s tough stuff but we’re still well within the fight and haven’t played many games against teams within our conference … so we can still get into the finals picture that way as well.”

ADVERTISEMENT

James O’Connor (ankle) and Harry Wilson (head knock) were casualties on Saturday and are a chance of staying home this weekend despite the club’s confidence neither face an extended stint on the sideline.

Reds captain Liam Wright ahead of match against the Crusaders:

Video Spacer

 

ADVERTISEMENT

LIVE

{{item.title}}

Trending on RugbyPass

Comments

0 Comments
Be the first to comment...

Join free and tell us what you really think!

Sign up for free
ADVERTISEMENT

Latest Features

Comments on RugbyPass

F
Flankly 1 hour ago
'Absolute madness': Clive Woodward rips into Borthwick in wake of NZ loss

Borthwick is supposed to be the archetypical conservative coach, the guy that might not deliver a sparkling, high-risk attacking style, but whose teams execute the basics flawlessly. And that's OK, because it can be really hard to beat teams that are rock solid and consistent in the rugby equivalent of "blocking and tackling".


But this is why the performance against NZ is hard to defend. You can forgive a conservative, back-to-basics team for failing to score tons of tries, because teams like that make up for it with reliability in the simple things. They can defend well, apply territorial pressure, win the set piece battles, and take their scoring chances with metronomic goal kicking, maul tries and pick-and-go goal line attacks.


The reason why the English rugby administrators should be on high alert is not that the English team looked unable to score tries, but that they were repeatedly unable to close out a game by executing basic, coachable skills. Regardless of how they got to the point of being in control of their destiny, they did get to that point. All that was needed was to be world class at things that require more training than talent. But that training was apparently missing, and the finger has to point at the coach.


Borthwick has been in the job for nearly two years, a period that includes two 6N programs and an RWC campaign. So where are the solid foundations that he has been building?

4 Go to comments
TRENDING
TRENDING Everyone is saying the same thing after agonising England loss Everyone is saying the same thing after agonising England loss
Search