Will Genia: Wallabies need to start coverting leads into wins
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Wallaby scrum-half Will Genia says Australia need to find a ruthless streak if they are to start finishing off games when they find themselves in a winning position.
The tourists saw their Grand Slam dream slip from their hands in the final minute of the 20-all draw with Ireland last week after building up an early lead - a situation that is becoming far to common place for a team with high ambitions.
Australia have failed to convert a half-time lead into victory four out of five times since Genia made his debut during the Tri-Nations.
Ahead of the Wallabies' visit to Murrayfield on Saturday, Genia has urged his team to keep the pressure on Scotland until the final whistle.
"We did well sustaining pressure throughout the whole 80 minutes, but it's just getting the little things (right) where we've got our opposition by the throat and we let them off," Genia told AAP.
"It's more that killer blow we need."
Top of the list of priorities is the need to rectify Australia's inability to retrieve possession from the kick-off after scoring.
Twice in Dublin the Wallabies allowed Ireland back into the game after establishing a seven-point lead with Tommy Bowe's try a prime example of the dangers of giving away possession at the restart.
"It's the little things, you want to secure the ball off the kick off so you can get out of there straight away," he said.
"That's an important thing for us. We kind of struggle with it a little bit, just maintaining possession straight after we score.
"We seem to do it well when we're five points down but not so much when we're five points up.
"Ireland, they got the ball off the kick off and built up pressure in phases and scored off that.
"It's a big focus for us. We need to make sure when we do score points that we do get back out of our half straight away."
Genia is amongst a group of players including Adam Ashley-Cooper, David Pocock, James Horwill and Ben Alexander who will face Scotland for the first time, but the 21-year-old says the Wallabies have done plenty of analysis and know what to expect from their hosts on Saturday.
"They're a side that can play both games - tight and expansive," he said.
"Their backs like to play it wide and defensively they like to get up quickly off the line, so that will be a bit of a challenge for us."
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