MELBOURNE: The Wallabies will have plenty of down-time over the next week to “mentally relax” after their humiliation by the All Blacks at Eden Park, captain Michael Hooper has said.
The 22-year-old flanker was one of the few Australian players to stand up during the 51-20 onslaught, which kept the Bledisloe Cup, the annual trophy contested between the two nations, in New Zealand hands for a 12th consecutive year.
Australia have two weeks to stew over the loss before they take on South Africa in Perth, in their third match of the Rugby Championship, but will not get another crack at the All Blacks until Oct. 18 when the neighbours play a third, dead rubber match for the Bledisloe in Brisbane.
Having raised expectations at home of an upset at Eden Park by drawing the first match 12-12 in Sydney a week before, reality set in at the airport on the way home from New Zealand.
AFP
