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Deans: Reds win a springboard

Sydney - Coach Robbie Deans said on Sunday he hopes his Wallabies can build on the momentum of the Reds' Super 15 triumph as they gear up for the World Cup.

The Reds buoyed Australian rugby with a big-hearted 18-13 win over Super Rugby's most successful team the Crusaders in the final in Brisbane on Saturday.

"We've talked about momentum and the importance of it and we want to take the next step and start winning consistently," Deans said.

"We haven't had a lot of success at Super Rugby level and the Reds have done that."

The Reds won their first professional Super Rugby final to become the first Australian champions since the Brumbies in 2004.

It was a red letter day for Australian rugby with the 52 113 capacity crowd at Lang Park eclipsing the country's previous provincial rugby record of 49 327 set in 1907 between NSW and New Zealand in Sydney.

Now New Zealander Deans wants to surf the wave created by the Reds all the way to the World Cup final in Auckland on October 23.

Deans on Sunday included 15 Reds in his expanded 40-man Australian squad for the Tri-Nations series and next weekend's season-opening Test against Samoa.

The Crusaders make up the nucleus of the All Blacks side while the young Reds could also account for half of Australia's strongest starting 15.

In 2007, the Springboks rode on the back of the Bulls' charge to the Super 14 crown by going on to land the World Cup in France, and Deans also sees the springboard the Wallabies will now gain.

"It was a great effort and we hope to run off that," said Deans. "There's a big overlap of people, inevitably there will be some carry over."

Will Genia and Quade Cooper, the Reds' crack halves pairing, played their parts in the Reds' battle of wills with the Crusaders.

Scrumhalf Genia, who scored the match-wining try with a 65m run, was adamant the Reds' triumph would reap rewards for a Test team that had lost 10 consecutive Bledisloe Cup Tests to the All Blacks until their 26-24 upset in Hong Kong last November.

Genia agreed the Reds' self-belief would rub off on the Wallabies.

"It's just all about self-belief," he said. "Once you cross that line, cross that barrier, when you do believe you can win (anything is possible).

"Look at the Reds: who would have thought two years ago we would have won that title, or even last year, or even the start of the year.

"If we can take that belief in there to the core (Test) group, it will go a long way towards hoping to be successful."

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