Sydney (AFP)
Australia's new coach Dave Rennie of New Zealand said his players needed to be more physically sharp to be on the best team on Monday and wished "results and fast!"
"We want results, and fast! It's our state of mind: no excuses and fully from the start," hammered the coach during a video call.
Appointed in late November after the 2019 World Cup to succeed Michael Cheika as head of the Wallabies, Rennie was released in late May by the Glasgow Warriors, whom he had coached for four seasons.
Eliminated in the quarterfinals of the World Cup-2019 by England, Australia is currently 7th in the World Rugby ranking and has seen several executives of the selection retire after the competition.
For Rennie, the change of generation is a chance to prepare on new bases the next World Cup in France in 2023 while Australia hopes to take down the organization of the 2027 edition.
The international calendar that awaits Rennie is still unclear: uncertainties remain about the chances of resumption of the Rugby Championship which pits the nations of the southern hemisphere (New Zealand, Australia, South Africa, Argentina). One possibility is that neighboring Australia and New Zealand will face each other four times during the year.
Measuring against the All Blacks, who have won the Rugby Championship seven times in the last eight editions (South Africa triumphed in 2019 before later lifting the World Cup), "is a very good indicator of the way that "We have more to do. The more we play against the All Blacks, the better," he said on Monday from a Auckland hotel room, where he had been in the fortnight on Monday since arriving from Europe.
"We have not had much success against them in the past 15 years and we have to put ourselves under pressure against the best," he added.
To compete, he believes that the Wallabies must improve their physical condition and their ability to get back on their feet faster to defend.
"If we work hard for each other, we can put a wall against the opposing teams and defend for long periods and, hopefully, create scoring opportunities for us. The same is true in attack", he explained, saying he wanted to "focus on physical fitness and the acquisition of skills under pressure".
© 2020 AFP