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Oita - It's taken a week, but the Wallabies say they have finally parked the frustration of losing to Wales and are primed get their World Cup back on track when teen star Jordan Petaia makes his debut against Uruguay.
While coach Michel Cheika claimed his team had been the victims of an injustice, captain Michael Hooper painted a contrasting image on Friday of the attitude inside the Australian camp.
He said the players were focused on where they needed to improve following the disappointing 29-25 loss to Wales, which left them seemingly destined for a quarter-final against England.
"I really wanted to win that game," Hooper said Friday, on the eve of their match against Uruguay in Oita.
"I still thought about a lot of those moments during the week, but we're only 24 hours away from playing this next one and I've moved on totally."
The Wallabies have been full of praise for the injury-prone Petaia who is tipped to be the new face of Australian rugby when he makes his long-awaited debut against Uruguay.
Had it not been for a tough run of injuries, the 19-year-old could have made his debut several times over the past year.
"That says a lot about the ability the kid has and the belief the team has in him," Hooper said.
"He'll do something special. He's obviously right at the start of his journey so everyone can't wait to see what he puts out there."
Despite Cheika's outbursts over Reece Hodge's suspension for a high tackle against Fiji, and over decisions that went against them in the Wales match, Hooper said the players were only concerned with what they could control.
"There's been a lot of stuff said but we can't control that. That's very much been the point of this week, how can we improve on last week's performance. What can we take from the Fiji game into the Wales game and now into this game," the captain said.
"You would have to know what's being said behind closed doors to know what we're thinking about."
One area of concern was how to handle the sauna-like conditions inside the roofed Oita Stadium where the All Blacks suffered from multiple handling areas in their 63-0 romp against Canada.
All Blacks coach Steve Hansen described the ball as being as slippery as soap and Hooper suggested not clutching the ball too tightly could be the answer.
"The jerseys will be very wet so keeping it off the chest is important. Catch the ball. It's as simple as that, you have to catch the ball," he said.
