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'We're going to get a lot better' - Rennie admits Wallabies still have 'a long way to go' after finishing last in Tri Nations

(Photo by Cameron Spencer/Getty Images)

Dave Rennie concedes the Wallabies have “a long way to go” after finishing a year that started so promisingly with the Tri Nations wooden spoon after another lacklustre draw with Argentina.

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The Wallabies and Pumas finished deadlocked at 16-16 on Saturday night after fullback Reece Hodge missed with a long-range last-minute penalty goal attempt for the third time in three stalemates in 2020.

Hodge also had the chance to boot Australia to victory with three minutes to go in their 15-15 draw with the Pumas two weeks ago in Newcastle.

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Coach Dave Rennie and captain Michael Hooper reflect on the Wallabies’ 16-all draw with the Pumas in Sydney.

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Coach Dave Rennie and captain Michael Hooper reflect on the Wallabies’ 16-all draw with the Pumas in Sydney.

The cursed star also struck the upright with an after-the-siren shot in the Wallabies’ season-opening 16-16 draw with the All Blacks in Wellington in October.

He could only hang his head in despair after his latest miss in driving rain at Bankwest Stadium.

“I feel a bit sorry for him,” coach Rennie said.

“He’s kicked well and there weren’t many lining up to make that shot. It would have been nice if he’d kicked that, but it is what it is.”

It was another cruel finish for Hodge, who has otherwise been among Australia’s best during a six-Test campaign that yielded just one win to go with two losses and the three draws.

Had Hodge not slotted three earlier penalty goals plus a pressure conversion from out wide 12 minutes from fulltime to tie the scores up, the Wallabies would have lost.

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“We’ve got a long way to go. We’re going to get a lot better,” Rennie said.

“There’s no lack of heart, no lack of effort but we’ve got to be way more clinical.”

The Pumas, roundly written off after last week’s 38-0 drubbing at the hands of New Zealand and then having inspirational skipper Pablo Matera and two teammates stood down for disciplinary reasons, looked like keeping the Wallabies try-less for the second game running.

“It’s a hollow feeling,” said Wallabies captain Michael Hooper.

“It’s very disappointing.”

Rennie said pre-game he’d settle for the Wallabies winning ugly to finish the year off on a high.

Instead, they almost suffered one of the ugliest losses in history, against a depleted Pumas outfit who endured several sleepless nights while dealing with the fallout from the Matera affair.

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The Wallabies only salvaged a draw after fighting back from 10 points down while playing the last 20 minutes with 14 men following the red-carding of Lukhan Salakaia-Loto for dangerous contact to Santiago Grondona’s head in a tackle gone wrong.

“We showed a lot of character tonight,” Rennie said.

“We’re a work in progress.

“We made dumb some errors and got punished for it.

“There’s obviously areas we know we need to be better. We won one out of six, if you look at it from that perspective.

“So it’s disappointing but we’ve got an understanding of where we’re at.

“You’ve got to convert one of those opportunities and it’s a different result.”

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Tom 4 hours ago
Will Bristol's daredevil 'Bears-ball' deliver the trophy they crave?

Also a Bristol fan and echo your sentiments.


I love watching Bristol but their approach will only get them so far I think. Exeter played like this when they first got promoted to the prem and had intermittent success, it wasn't until they wised up and played a more balanced game that they became a consistently top side.


I really want Bristol to continue playing this brand of rugby and I don't mind them running it from under their posts but I don't think they need to do it every single time. They need to be just a little bit more selective about when and where on the pitch they play. Every game they put themselves under so much needless pressure by turning the ball over under their posts trying to do kamikaze moves when it's not required. By all means run it from your goal line if there is a chance for a counter attack, we all want to see Bristol running in 100m tries from under their posts but I think until they learn when to do it and when to be pragmatic, they are unlikely to win the premiership.


Defense has been a real positive from Bristol, they've shown a lot of improvement there... And I will say that I think this kamikaze strategy they employ is a very good one for a struggling side and could be employed by Newcastle. It's seems to have turned around Gloucester's fortunes. The big advantage is even if you don't have the biggest and best players, what you have is cohesion. This is why Scotland keep battering England. England have better individuals but they look muddled as a team, trying to play a mixed strategy under coaches who lack charisma, the team has no identity. Scotland come out and give it full throttle from 1-15 even if they struggle against the top sides, sides like England and Wales who lack that identity drown under the relentless will and synergy of the Scots. If Newcastle did the same they could really surprise some people, I know the weather is bad up there but it hasn't bothered the Scots. Bristol can learn from Scotland too, Pat is on to something when he says the following but Scotland don't play test matches like headless chickens. They still play with the same level of clarity and ambition Bristol do but they are much better at picking their moments. They needed to go back to this mad game to get their cohesion back after a couple of seasons struggling but I hope they get a bit wiser from matches like Leinster and La Rochelle.


“If there’s clarity on what you’re trying to do as a team you can win anything.”

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