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August 11, 2009

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Wallabies told to clean up their act

AUSTRALIA coach Robbie Deans has threatened to drop players for continued lapses in on-field discipline after sin-binnings robbed the Wallabies of manpower during their 17-29 loss to South Africa at the weekend.

Apart from conceding 13 penalties at Newlands in Cape Town, referee Alain Rolland showed the yellow card to flyhalf Matt Giteau after he crashed into Springbok Fourie du Preez off the ball with his forearm.

Flanker Richard Brown followed Giteau off the field a minute later for offsides at a ruck, while loose forward George Smith was also yellow-carded in the 79th minute.

Deans said the lack of discipline had cost the Wallabies against South Africa and flagged a harder line against offenders.

"If you keep going back to that trough and don't address that habit, there's only one other way of addressing it, that's to remove those that are drinking from that trough," Deans said yesterday.

A lack of mental discipline had also shown up in the line-outs, Deans added, suggesting the Australians had been intimidated by the Boks' superior organization.

"We essentially froze and that's what pressure does to you," Deans said of Australia's lineout woes.

"We know that they're a capable lineout and they create doubts in your own mind through their presence and history of performance in that area. You've got the two best locks (Victor Matfield and Bakkies Botha) in the world and also height at the back in (Pierre) Spies, so that just adds a little bit of pressure.

"But the key is to master ourselves before we master our circumstance. A lot of it is still in our own thinking, until we master that, we won't give ourselves the best opportunity of mastering our opponent."






 

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