Australia

GS tour a learning curve for Wallabies

Sunday, October 25 Wallabies coach Robbie Deans feels the upcoming Bledisloe Cup match against the All Blacks and Grand Slam tour will do wonders for his struggling young squad.

The Wallabies had a great start to the international season – they annihilated the Barbarians 55-7, cruised past Italy on two occasions and toppled France 22-6.

However, the inexperienced squad failed to make the leap in competition in the Tri-Nations and subsequently recorded just one win from their six outings to finish the series as wooden spooners.

They conclude their four-Test Bledisloe Cup series – which the All Blacks have already wrapped up – with a clash in Tokyo next weekend before they depart on their first Grand Slam tour in 25 years.

Regardless of the problems within the squad, caused in part by Deans axing senior players Stirling Mortlock, George Smith and Matt Giteau from their leadership roles, the Wallabies are expected to have a fruitful tour.

“Outcomes aside, this tour is going to be of huge value to Australian rugby, there's no doubt about that," Deans told AAP.

"The amount of rugby the players are going to get, the context of the games, the intensity as a result that will unfold in those contests and some great destinations we are playing at.

"This group is going to be better for the experience, either way."

The Wallabies will have two training sessions before the team announcement for the Tokyo fixture is made on Tuesday. Deans suggested that the training sessions would have no bearing on selection for the Bledisloe Cup match.

Instead, Deans says he would talk to assistant coaches and co-selectors Jim Williams and Richard Graham about the teams for the two upcoming fixtures against the All Blacks and English club Gloucester on November 3.

"We as coaching staff will be sitting down on the flight and having some of those conversations,” he said.

"We obviously have great insights into the group over the last couple of weeks, particularly those that we haven't had with us through the Tri-Nations.

"We will sit down and settle on the combinations for the first two games simultaneously."

Deans remained coy when prompted to whom he regarded as the major threats to his squad’s attempt to duplicate the Grand Slam-winning achievements of the legendary 1984 Wallabies.

"You know the answer you are going to get," Deans said.

"They [all four Home Unions] will have benefited from the experience of those who were involved in the British and Irish Lions tour of South Africa.

"They will take a lot out of those games and take it back to their home nations.”

Tour Schedule:

Oct 31 - Wallabies v All Blacks (Bledisloe Cup), Tokyo
Nov 3 - Wallabies v Gloucester, Gloucester
Nov 7 - Wallabies v England, Twickenham, London
Nov 15 - Wallabies v Ireland, Croke Park, Dublin
Nov 21 - Wallabies v Scotland, Murrayfield, Edinburgh
Nov 24 - Wallabies v Cardiff Blues, Cardiff
Nov 28 - Wallabies v Wales, Millennium Stadium, Cardiff

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