‘Hurting us’: Wallabies’ ‘narrow’ focus

Guilty of “kicking away” any hopes they had of beating South Africa, the Wallabies are intent on preserving energy by keeping the ball for longer periods in their Rugby Championship battle with Argentina.

Successive losses to the Springboks will have the Wallabies seeking redemption on Sunday morning (AEST) in La Plata.

Halfback Tate McDermott admits the Wallabies are still adjusting to the way coach Joe Schmidt, who has been in charge for five Tests, wants to attack.

“It’s very different to how every Super Rugby team plays back there (in Australia),” the Queensland Reds star said.

“Joe’s plan for us is pretty narrow, as in that’s the width we want to attack, so it’s very direct and a skilful game plan at the line but our adjusted period is probably not where we need it to be in regards to how we play as Super Rugby teams and how we want to play here.

“We’re slow to react a little bit at the moment, and it’s hurting us in key moments … but there’s a definite plan in place, and the boys are trying really hard to nail that plan, but we’ve got a little bit of work to do on how it looks and how we can make it look in a game.”

A seemingly basic element of the “plan” that the Wallabies are yet to master under Schmidt is cherishing possession.

“The way we’re attacking, we’re struggling to hold the ball for multiphase and cut teams apart with our attack, particularly in phase play,” McDermott said.

“We’ve put a little bit of time and effort into our attack for the past couple of weeks to try to make sure that we’re not just giving teams the ball because we’re kicking the ball away quite a bit.

“We can try to regain a little bit more energy by investing a little bit more time in our attack, particularly at the breakdown.”

McDermott is locked in a three-way battle for the starting halfback spot with the Waratahs’ Jake Gordon and Western Force’s Nic White and has often had to be content with second-half cameos off the bench under Schmidt.

“I’m just keen to add energy (and) add speed to the game in whatever way I can,” he said.

“We’re all competitive, we all want that (number) nine jersey, and I just love how much those boys help me out in those areas I need to work on.

“I’m really grateful to have them in this squad to learn off and bounce ideas off as well.”

The Wallabies expect a “hostile” atmosphere at Estadio Uno on Sunday, and this week experienced the intensity from the stands at the much larger 85,000-capacity Estadio Mas Monumental, where they watched River Plate draw 0-0 with Newell’s Old Boys in a Primera Division football match.

“To see the passion in the crowd, the chants, people jumping up and down … it’s an incredibly good experience as a player to come over here and play, but it means you’ve got to try to do your best to navigate all those challenges that a big crowd and a hostile crowd come with,” McDermott said.

“It’s going to be a good challenge for us.”