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Darren Walton,
AAP
Updated August 18, 2013, 12:40 pm
Wallabies coach Ewen McKenzie will consider deploying Israel Folau at fullback in a bid to maximise his game-breaking attacking potential and keep Australia's Bledisloe Cup hopes alive.
The Wallabies must win Saturday's second Test in Wellington to avoid losing the trans-Tasman series for an 11th straight year and getting Folau more ball is one McKenzie's biggest challenges.
Wallabies great Tim Horan bemoaned how, for all the deadly weaponry at his disposal, Folau had "one of the quietest games I've ever seen from an Australian winger" in Saturday night's 47-29 shellacking at the hands of the All Blacks.
"They said they were going to target him. Well, one way of targeting him is to keep him out of the game," McKenzie said on Sunday.
"So it's up to us to find ways to keep him in the game."
Playing fullback for the NSW Waratahs, Folau was crowned Australia's Super Rugby rookie of the year in his debut season in the code, while Test rookie Jesse Mogg had a forgettable starting debut in Australia's No.15 jumper on Saturday night.
Mogg also lost his nerve when the Super Rugby final was on the line against the Chiefs and his Brumbies coach Jake White said before the international season that the 23-year-old wasn't yet ready for Test rugby.
McKenzie's dilemma now is striking the right balance if he reshuffles his backline for the do-or-die clash in New Zealand, where the Wallabies haven't won since 2001.
Moving Folau to fullback would probably require shifting Adam Ashley-Cooper, who's been one of Australia's shining lights at outside centre, to the wing and promoting another Test novice in Tevita Kuridrani to a midfield starting role.
McKenzie could also start James O'Connor, twice caught out defensively in the six-try first-Test drubbing and who also boasts a superior kicking game to Folau, at fullback.
But that would leave the dual international stranded on the wing and at risk of being under-utilised once again.
"He's played most of his rugby league career on the wing. The fullback bit has been obviously something the Tahs experimented with. We certainly don't rule out that he can play in that position and within a game he can play in that position," McKenzie said.
"So we'll be open-minded about that. He's a good player and we practised to have him involved in the game. It just didn't eventuate."
Refusing to panic, McKenzie ruled out sweeping changes and said the focus this week would be on improving the side's transition defence after the world champions scored three tries from turnovers, and also decision making and ball security.
"They're things we have to attend to but the good thing is they're easily fixed," the new coach said.
Halfback Will Genia insisted the Wallabies could still defy the odds and wrestle back the treasured Bledisloe Cup with successive wins over the All Blacks in New Zealand for the first time in a single season since 1949.
"I don't feel deflated. Not at all. There's a lot of confidence in the fact that we scored 29 points," Genia said.
"We had a heavy emphasis on attack during the week because we wanted to reinvent and refresh a few new things.
"We've just got to go away and make sure we work hard because seven days is a long time.
"It's an old cliche, but I still feel very confident. We've lost one game. We've got two more to potentially, hopefully get a trophy.
"It's only the start of the competition. You can't dwell too much in history."
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Originally Posted by Ewen MacKenzie defending a decision to keep Mr Nobody Folau in the team
