Matt Giteau: How Les Kiss has been different from Joe Schmidt as Wallabies legend hopes All Blacks don’t ‘dampen’ Bledisloe Cup
Matt Giteau hopes that the All Blacks don't put a 'damper' on the Bledisloe Cup.
Matt Giteau says that Wallabies players are benefiting from Les Kiss’ selections and hopes that the All Blacks don’t put a ‘damper’ on the Bledisloe Cup.
Australia head into the clash at Eden Park against New Zealand off the back of a thrilling 42-38 victory over the Springboks in Perth. That win was Kiss’ fourth in his opening five games since taking over from Joe Schmidt as head coach.
A draw with Argentina in South America is the only blight on the new head coach’s record, and Giteau hopes that the Wallabies can continue that unbeaten run when tackling Dave Rennie’s charges at their fortress.
Difference between Les Kiss and Joe Schmidt
One of Schmidt’s remits when he took on the job after Eddie Jones’ disastrous 2023 in charge of Australia was to expand the selection pool of the Wallabies and he duly did so and regularly made changes from Test match to Test match.
However, Giteau says that Kiss is now bearing the fruits of backing some of the more inexperienced players week after week.
“Well, it gives him a lot of confidence that he has won four, drawn one,” the legendary Wallaby told the All Blacks‘ YouTube channel.
“If they won that game against Argentina instead of drawing, it’s a perfect start for him. It’s a good start for a lot of young players who got capped under Joe Schmidt, but they were in and out, and now they’ve shown a bit more consistency under Les.”
One player in particular is benefiting from starting regularly and put in a standout performance against the Springboks: scrum-half Ryan Lonergan.
“That team that he’s sticking with, a guy in particular for me is Ryan Lonergan; like, you’re now starting to see the benefits of him consistently playing every week,” he continued.
“The first couple of Tests probably weren’t his best games, but he was still playing well. Les has shown consistency and support, and you’re now starting to see the fruits of that support.”
Victor Matfield: Wallabies outplayed the Springboks where the All Blacks are weakest
Ending the Eden Park unbeaten streak
Looking ahead to the weekend’s clash at Eden Park, Giteau hopes that the Wallabies can get the job done over the All Blacks, something no nation has done at the Auckland ground since 1994.
If Rennie’s side does beat the Wallabies, they will retain the Bledisloe Cup because there are just two fixtures this year. A win for the All Blacks would put a ‘damper’ on the clash at Accor Stadium in Sydney next week.
“I hope so,” Giteau replied when asked whether we can expect a close Bledisloe Cup encounter.
“Obviously, we would love it if Australia were able to go over there and get it done. It would build so nicely for that second week. Whereas if the All Blacks get it done, then it does put a bit of a damper on that return leg back here in Sydney.”
The win over the Springboks will give the Wallabies confidence, Giteau adds, but he did highlight an area of concern in terms of selection.
“The players will be feeling confident. Not overly confident, though; I think we’ve got a couple of injuries,” he continued.
Want more from Planet Rugby? Add us as a preferred source on Google to your favourites list for world-class coverage you can trust.
“I’m not sure what we’re going to do with our centres at this stage, but the boys got over there nice and early. They left on Sunday, I think, to get over there and just set themselves up. Feel what the buzz is about, get heckled by the fans for half the week, and then you can just move on and focus on your prep.
“It’s always going to be tough. All Blacks are an unbelievable team, and playing at Eden Park makes it even more challenging. So anyway, we’ll see how we go. I don’t want to talk about Eden Park too much because Drew [Mitchell] gets upset. So I’ll leave it at that.”
