MELBOURNE – The ACT Brumbies’ rapid exit from the playoffs capped a season of gloom for Australia’s Super Rugby teams but has offered a silver lining for the Wallabies as they race to get fit for stiff Tests against the All Blacks.
While three New Zealand sides battle in the Super semi-finals this week, Australia coach Michael Cheika has gathered a bumper 38-man squad for a punishing training camp in the New South Wales port city of Newcastle ahead of their Rugby Championship opener against the All Blacks in Sydney on Aug. 19.
The squad will be further reinforced by another eight or so Brumbies later this week in the wake of their 35-16 loss to the champion Wellington Hurricanes in Canberra on Friday.
The boot camp comes as a sense of crisis engulfs Australian rugby after the nation’s five teams failed to beat a single New Zealand opponent in 26 matches this season.
That has stoked fears the Wallabies could face a torrid time in the three-Test Bledisloe Cup series against the world champions having already suffered a surprise loss to Scotland and a huge scare against Italy in the June internationals.
The basic level of fitness of Australia’s players came under the microscope during the Super Rugby season, with the teams prone to fading badly late on during games against New Zealand opposition.
Wallabies captain Stephen Moore complained after the June series that the provincial sides had failed to prepare players for the rigours of Test rugby.
Meanwhile, four Fijians were named in the team before the squad was to be further reinforced by another eight or so Brumbies later this week in the wake of their 35-16 loss to the champion Wellington Hurricanes in Canberra last Friday. The four are Samu Kerevi, Marika Koroibete, Eto Nabuli and Sefa Naivalu.
