CAPE TOWN: Struggling Australia have ‘run out of excuses’ and will have to work hard to win back disaffected fans in the wake of another demoralising loss to South Africa, according to Wallabies flyhalf Quade Cooper.
Australia’s 28-8 capitulation to the Springboks in Cape Town on Saturday was their fourth loss from five matches in the Rugby Championship.
A loss to Argentina in Rosario this weekend in the final round would likely see the Wallabies finish bottom of the southern hemisphere competition, and heap further pressure on new coach Ewen McKenzie. McKenzie, who replaced the deposed Robbie Deans after the lost British and Irish Lions series, has been criticised for tweaking his selections throughout the tournament with little success, but Cooper said the fault lay with the players.
“There’s a way that Ewen is coaching the team, everybody’s got to buy into that and adapt to it as well,” Cooper told Australian media in Cape Town.
“We can’t keep using excuses, we’ve run out of excuses as a team in terms of how we go about each week. We’ve just got to put it down to hard work, sticking together as a team, backing our coach, backing our players, and we’ve got to strive for more success. We’re not going to shy away from the hard work that’s in and amongst us.”
Australia’s run of abysmal form has sparked derision on social media and put the country’s sceptical rugby media up in arms.
Local pundit Greg Growden described them as “one of the worst Wallabies teams in 30 years” in his column on ESPNscrum.com.
Franco replaces Flip for Springboks in decider
CAPE TOWN: South Africa have recalled uncapped lock Franco van der Merwe to the squad for the Rugby Championship decider against New Zealand at Ellis Park in Johannesburg on Saturday.
The Golden Lions forward replaces namesake Flip van der Merwe, who is suspended after being found guilty of striking Australia winger Joe Tomane with his forearm in the Springboks’ 28-8 victory in Cape Town on Saturday.
The lock swap is the only change to the squad that was named against the Wallabies as coach Heyneke Meyer kept faith with the players that have won four of their five Rugby Championship matches this season.
The 30-year-old Van der Merwe has been named on a number of South Africa squads since his first call-up in June 2012 but has yet to be given a cap. His familiarity with the Springboks environment appears to have earned him the nod for the tournament decider.
“Losing any player, for whatever reasons, is never ideal but Franco knows our structures and plans very well, having been part of the squad since June last year,” Meyer said. South Africa must beat New Zealand by more than seven points and score four tries in the process to claim the title from the All Blacks.
Squad: Forwards: Lourens Adriaanse, Willem Alberts, Marcell Coetzee, Bismarck du Plessis, Jannie du Plessis, Pieter-Steph du Toit, Eben Etzebeth, Siya Kolisi, Juandré Kruger, Francois Louw, Tendai Mtawarira, Coenie Oosthuizen, Chiliboy Ralepelle, Gurthro Steenkamp, Adriaan Strauss, Franco van der Merwe, Duane Vermeulen. Backs: Bjorn Basson, Juan de Jongh, Jean de Villiers (captain), Fourie du Preez, JJ Engelbrecht, Bryan Habana, Zane Kirchner, Patrick Lambie, Willie le Roux, Ruan Pienaar, Jan Serfontein, Morné Steyn, Jano Vermaak. REUTERS
