Port Elizabeth: Getting out of Australia is exactly what the Wallabies feel they need to succeed over what will be a tricky two months to round out the year.
Struggling Australian teams in the past, be it at Super Rugby or international level, have often enjoyed solace in leaving the country and being able to completely focus on football.
Journey: The Wallabies feel their long road trip could be just what they need to get back on track.
During home Test weeks, there is so much more going on than just the 80 minutes on a Saturday evening. Sponsor events, lunches, extra media attention, family commitments and just the overall pressure of playing in front of friends and the Australian public add to the challenge of battling it out on home soil.
On the other side of the world, it’s 100 per cent football. Players are in the bubble of a team environment and many have spoken about how it is brings them closer together with their teammates.
Not to forget, touring life can be fun, although perhaps with fewer beers than in decades past.
Ahead of them, the Wallabies face South Africa and then Argentina over the next two weeks before a final Bledisloe clash with New Zealand in Japan in late October. That is then quickly followed by the Spring Tour to Europe for match-ups with Wales, Italy and England.
In Port Elizabeth, a sleepy seaside city about halfway between Cape Town and Durban, Wallabies players have shaken off their jet lag and are striving for a perfect week of preparation, as we hear so often.
After training as the sun is setting, players take a short walk to the beach for a casual dip in the colder-than-expected water wearing their budgie smugglers. They don’t have to fret about the threat of sharks, for they usually lurk more around Jeffreys Bay, about an hour’s drive away.
While this Wallabies camp might not be as relaxed as others in previous years given recent results, there is a sense they can revitalise and come together to turn around their fortunes on the field.
“Being away now is going to be good for us,” said Wallabies prop Allan Alaalatoa. “We only have to draw into each other to push through that barrier. It’s a good time for us to tour and connect as a group and get to know each other, a lot more than what we do now.
“We’re growing as a group and with the away games being later in the season we’re obviously hitting towards that point where we’re developing and getting to know our game plan. We only have each other and it’s something we need to draw on and use throughout the week.”
One player who is making the most of his time in Wallabies camp is Sekope Kepu. The tight-head prop only got into South Africa on Monday morning after celebrating the birth of his fourth child back in Sydney.
Despite being sleep-deprived, Kepu showed he hadn’t missed a beat by shocking those around him with some characteristically impressive feats in the weights room.
“He went straight in the gym and did a few personal bests,” said Alaalatoa, before Ned Hanigan added: “He nearly passed out on the bench press, in and out of sleep.”
Alaalatoa continued: “Being away now will be pretty tough for him and that’s the sacrifices he’s making to be with us. I know when he’s going to be in the squad he’s going to be on and he wants to deliver.”
Alaalatoa felt Australia’s scrum held up well against Argentina but wants more consistency from the pack as a whole.
“We’re still inconsistent all round in terms of our whole combinations,” Alaalatoa said.
“It’s something we’re looking to develop throughout the week. It’s not going to just come naturally.”
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