Deans focuses on Wallaby defence

Wallaby coach Robbie Deans says he will focus his attention on shoring up Australia's defence during the end of year tour.

Wallaby coach Robbie Deans says he will focus his attention on shoring up Australia's defence during the end of year tour.

The tour, which kicks off with the first ever Bledisloe Cup match in Hong Kong against the All Blacks on November 1, includes away Tests against Italy, England, France and Wales as well as a match against the Barbarians.

While Deans said that progress had been made, the recent 28-24 Tri-Nations defeat to New Zealand had exposed some of the team's weaknesses, as they threw away a ten-point lead.

“We are four points short, we are not that far away. Some of the tries we let in were soft and we have identified a number of reasons for that,” he said.

“We will go to work and try and improve that. We have made some headway, we are close (to where we need to be) but not close enough.”

The team came in for fierce criticism after the Bledisloe Cup defeat amid suggestions that their once world-leading defence had slipped in recent years, something that Deans was keen to put right ahead of their tour.

The Wallabies leave for Hong Kong on October 27 with the All Blacks holding a 2-1 lead ahead of the final match of the annual Bledisloe series.

A handful of injury concerns have hampered the Wallabies plans, as number eight Wycliff Palu likely to be fit for only part of the tour while star winger Lote Tuqiri is more of a doubt.

“Lote had an operation after the last fixture and the amount of damage we found was in excess of what they anticipated,” Deans told reporters in Hong Kong by phone from Australia.

“Now it depends on how he responds to rehabilitation. He is hopeful and certainly very keen.”

Deans said that some of the younger members of the squad, including 18-year-old utility back James O'Connor, were unlikely to feature prominently in many of the games.