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AAustralia face rivals New Zealand in their second game of the rugby championship.
Dave Rennie’s side were destroyed by New Zealand 57-22 in August and they will want to set the record straight in the upcoming game.
Australian scrum-half Tate McDermott insisted his team would bounce back from the beating they received.
He told the media this week:
“If there’s no advantage in playing a game against New Zealand, we’re kidding ourselves. To concede 57 points and call ourselves a tier one nation is pretty embarrassing.
“We looked at each other in the mirror. We looked at exactly what was wrong. The most frustrating part was that our freebies let them back into the game.
“We have to get that out of the way, otherwise we can’t expect to compete with them… (Defense) was nowhere near good enough. As this game approaches you will see a massive emphasis on defense.”
What could give Australia a helping hand are three key players Sam Whitelock, Richie Mo’unga and Aaron Smith as the All Blacks are not involved in the game as they are staying for the birth of their children. .
New Zealand head coach Ian Foster said:
“You know full well who they’re probably going to replace them with and that’s just as much experience.
“They left some key players behind but they replaced them with three World Cup players, gold medalists … Guys like TJ Perenara, like Beauden Barrett, if you take them lightly lure.”
Both teams have already named their team news and here they are in full:
Australia: Tom Banks, Andrew Kellaway, Len Ikitau, Samu Kerevi, Marika Koroibete, Noah Lolesio, Tate McDermott; James Slipper, Sailing, Allan Alaalatoa, Darcy Swain, Matt Philip, Lachie Swinton, Michael Hooper (c), Rob Valetini.
Substitutes: Lachlan Lonergan, Angus Bell, Taniela Tupou, Izack Rodda, Pete Samu, Nic White, Reece Hodge, Jordan Petaia.
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