Tri-Nations
Wallabies seek consistency
2010-08-31 11:46
Durban - Australia need to find some consistency in their game if they want to start winning regularly against top-flight opposition, Wallabies' assistant coach Jim Williams said on Tuesday.
The Australians lost their Tri-Nations clash 44-31 against South Africa in Pretoria last Saturday despite holding a 21-7 lead early in the first half.
In the second half, the Wallabies were left to rue a succession of set-piece failures and an inability to finish off scoring opportunities but Williams refused to blame the loss on any particular aspect of the team's performance.
"I suppose it's not down to one thing, it's the ability to play well on the day," Williams told reporters.
"It's about getting consistency; we've worked hard on preparation this week to ensure we address problems from last weekend and are nice and positive for this Saturday."
Williams added that Australia's problems in the set-piece, especially lineouts, were something that would be worked on in the build-up to Australia's clash with South Africa in Bloemfontein on Saturday.
"If you break it down, there were four lineouts lost and it came down to technique with throwing on a couple of times and the options that we took inside their 22. It's just a matter of taking the right options and make sure we stick to our plan."
Williams' fellow assistant coach Richard Graham echoed his colleague's sentiments about the team needing to find consistency in their game.
"The thing with any performance is to be consistent over a period of time," Graham explained.
"It's a young group and the more times we are put in situations like we were at the weekend then I think you'll see us consistently becoming better in those aspects," he said.