Australian pundits slam team (From Campaign Series)

Australian pundits slam team

10:50am Thursday 26th November 2009

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WE all know how Australians love to win but when the chips are down they can turn on their own just as savagely as the Welsh.

If you wanted to give the Wallabies a kick this week after their shock defeat to Scotland, you had to join the queue.

Everyone has been at it from the original Aussie rugby superstar David Campese to his 1991 World Cup winning coach Bob Dwyer.

In a country where cricket, Aussie rules, and rugby league are so dominant, with football very much on the rise – the Socceroos have qualified for another World Cup – union needs success to survive. But times are tough for the Wallabies and both Campo and Dwyer are predicting more misery ahead.

The pair are backing Wales to claim another Australian scalp on Saturday.

Lose and it could well be curtains for coach Robbie Deans despite an assurance to the contrary from ARU boss John O’Neill.

The Australian newspaper branded the Wallabies’ shock defeat to Scotland last weekend as “one of the most humiliating defeats Australia has suffered in the professional era”.

Soon everyone wanted to join the chorus of disapproval. And whatever some may think about Campese’s rent-a-gob reputation, his words can still make you sit up and take notice.

This is the first Grand Slam tour of Great Britain and Ireland the Wallabies have undertaken since the legendary Campese, Mark Ella and Michael Lynagh swept all before them in 1984.

His comparisons between the golden generation of a quarter of a century ago and today’s side are hardly flattering.

Campese blasted: “This Grand Slam tour has cruelly exposed the terrible skill levels of the current Wallabies players.

“I really think some of the group are struggling at this level. What I see is not encouraging. Dwyer wasn’t holding back either: “Our lack of technique in most parts of the game astonishes me. Our attack is atrocious. If we don’t do something about improving our attacking play we cannot possibly expect to win games at the highest level.

“I dread this week’s game – I mean Wales can actually play.”

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