Rugby-NZ, Australia look to rebound after Rugby Championship humiliations
By Nick Mulvenney
SYDNEY, Aug 15 (Reuters) -New Zealand and Australia will be out to restore some pride with Rugby Championship victories this weekend after chastening reverses at the hands of Argentina and South Africa last Saturday.
The Pumas deservedly stunned the All Blacks 38-30 in the tournament opener in Wellington and this week Felipe Contepomi's team will take aim at New Zealand's 30-year, 51-test unbeaten run at Auckland's Eden Park.
The Springboks have selected a weaker side for their second clash against the Wallabies in Perth but Australians will take little solace from that given the gulf in quality between the two teams in last Saturday's 33-7 demolition in Brisbane.
The All Blacks have won 20 of the 28 editions of the southern hemisphere test championship and the loss to Argentina - only a third in 38 meetings at test level - has likewise caused much soul-searching in New Zealand.
Rookie coach Scott Robertson on Thursday injected 95 caps of experience onto his bench in the shape of former captain Sam Cane and made three changes to his backline -- most notably starting Will Jordan for the first time this season.
The All Blacks have generally delivered a fierce response after losing test matches, particularly up front, and Robertson is hoping he has inherited at least that strand of the team's DNA.
"Every All Black forward pack after a result like that gets a chance for a bit of redemption, another opportunity," the former test loose forward said on Thursday.
"It's great to move forward now, we looked at it, now here we go, Eden Park, let's get to it."
Contepomi is also in his first season in charge and had already overseen a home win over France before the Wellington triumph.
The former test flyhalf has brought back skipper Julian Montoya after injury but otherwise largely kept faith in the team that secured last week's famous victory.
Flanker Pablo Matera loses the captaincy but will once more be the heart and soul of the Pumas, while unrelated backs Santiago and Mateo Carreras will again be ready to attack from anywhere.
Australia coach Joe Schmidt has perhaps yet to find the heart and soul of his Wallabies team and the green shoots of recovery identified in three wins in July were scorched by the world champions in Brisbane last Saturday.
Winger Marika Koroibete will add a bit of genuine world class to his side for Saturday's test at Perth Stadium but there will need to be a vast improvement everywhere if Australia are to bridge the gap to the Springboks.
"The reality is that we need to be more combative and accurate this Saturday," Schmidt said.
Springboks coach Rassie Erasmus has defended his decision to make 10 changes to his starting side, pointing out that there are still 14 World Cup winners in the team and only two new caps.
"This is not something up in the air, we've picked a team that we think can win," he said after naming his side on Tuesday.
"Hopefully the young guys can learn from the older guys and they can bring exuberance and excitement."
Editing by Crispian Balmer
免責聲明: XM Group提供線上交易平台的登入和執行服務，允許個人查看和/或使用網站所提供的內容，但不進行任何更改或擴展其服務和訪問權限，並受以下條款與條例約束：（i）條款與條例；（ii）風險提示；（iii）完全免責聲明。網站內部所提供的所有資訊，僅限於一般資訊用途。請注意，我們所有的線上交易平台內容並不構成，也不被視為進入金融市場交易的邀約或邀請 。金融市場交易會對您的投資帶來重大風險。
所有缐上交易平台所發佈的資料，僅適用於教育/資訊類用途，不包含也不應被視爲適用於金融、投資稅或交易相關諮詢和建議，或是交易價格紀錄，或是任何金融商品或非應邀途徑的金融相關優惠的交易邀約或邀請。
本網站的所有XM和第三方所提供的内容，包括意見、新聞、研究、分析、價格其他資訊和第三方網站鏈接，皆爲‘按原狀’，並作爲一般市場評論所提供，而非投資建議。請理解和接受，所有被歸類為投資研究範圍的相關内容，並非爲了促進投資研究獨立性，而根據法律要求所編寫，而是被視爲符合營銷傳播相關法律與法規所編寫的内容。請確保您已詳讀並完全理解我們的非獨立投資研究提示和風險提示資訊，相關詳情請點擊 這裡查看。
