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Greg Growden | November 13, 2009
DUBLIN: Wallabies coach Robbie Deans has put his players on notice that if they think how they played against England last weekend will be good enough to win the second leg of the grand slam against Ireland on Sunday, they are heading for a thrashing.
After allowing the Wallabies several days to enjoy their Twickenham win, it all turned serious yesterday with an intensive private training session at the Wanderers Club, followed by a stern message from Deans that they are nowhere near the complete package.
Deans stressed they must improve everywhere on the field if they are to seriously contemplate a victory over the Six Nations champions at Croke Park. After minor tinkering, including David Pocock taking over the openside flanker spot from George Smith, Deans made it clear that the Wallabies had to stop thinking one win would naturally lead to another. Instead, he said, they must dramatically lift their standards.
''Hopefully, we took some belief out of that win, but our challenge now is to recognise the level last week against England will be inadequate this week against an Irish side who have beaten all before them,'' Deans said. ''They deservedly won the grand slam, and that's obviously not easy to achieve. And they also played some wonderful rugby to achieve that.''
Asked to explain where exactly the Wallabies had to improve, Deans replied: ''All over.''
''We weren't perfect anywhere, but we were better. We're going to get a much more serious inquisition defensively this time around," he said.
''Ireland will be direct, and more physical. England became lateral in attack, and I don't think that will be Ireland's way. They will look to physically ask the question of us both with and without the ball."
Ireland know they can intimidate the Wallabies, constantly adopting an in-your-face attitude. That worked in two of the past three Dublin Tests between the sides, with the Wallabies wondering what hit them in 2002 and 2006, both times losing conclusively.
Across town at the Ireland team camp, they were adopting their usual charm offensive. According to Irish coach Declan Kidney and captain Brian O'Driscoll, the Wallabies were just fantastic.
O'Driscoll went through his usual routine of explaining that the Wallabies were world rugby's intelligentsia - even though in his nine Tests against Australia, O'Driscoll has confronted an endless parade of Wallabies, including five different outside-centres: Daniel Herbert, Stirling Mortlock, Matt Burke, Lote Tuqiri and now Digby Ioane.
''They are just a very smart team,'' O'Driscoll said. ''More often than not, they are the smartest team in world rugby. They think about how to break down defences. They have the personnel to do that, and they are able to adapt on the pitch. That's their big feature. They might go in with plan A, but they can change it throughout the game. That makes them dangerous.''
Making them even more crafty is the fact they are led by his recent Leinster teammate Rocky Elsom, whom O'Driscoll described as a ''fantastic player''.
''He was great for us at Leinster last year, and I happened to bump into him on Monday in a restaurant in Dublin. We just chatted away for a while. But for 80 minutes on Sunday, we'll put all that aside and take each other on. He's a world-class player, and his mind will be certainly focused on winning a Test match, as mine will be,'' O'Driscoll said.
Kidney, aware his team was vulnerable as it was their first match of the season, said the Wallabies had the distinct advantage of being match-hardened.
''They've been knocking on the door in the Tri Nations, and against England were probably a little more patient this time in picking off their scores,'' Kidney said.
''They managed to finish the game off well, which is something they have been talking about but haven't been able to manage to do. That will obviously give them confidence. Any side that goes to Twickenham and comes away with a win will have a bucket full of confidence.''
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