World champions Australia are taking nothing for granted as they prepare for Saturday's match with Scotland. The hosts' unpredictability combined with some notable gaps in the Wallabies squad means Australia and coach Rod Macqueen will treat Scotland with the utmost respect at Murrayfield.
Macqueen said" We will be paying close attention to Scotland's recent performances because we hold a great respect for our opposition. Scotland beat England in last season's Six Nations championship, and I rate them very highly. They are innovative and physically hard. To play them over here will be very difficult, but it is a situation which will focus us. I was impressed by Scotland's score against the USA last Saturday because the Americans are a vastly improved team in recent times".
Australia beat France in Paris on Saturday 18-13 in the opening Test of their tour and will select from the same squad of 22 players. Macqueen added" It's great to have that first game under your belt because you never know where you stand until then. Now we have a sense of where we are, and there is a lot of work to do. Our combinations left a little to be desired, we turned over far too much ball against France. That was uncharacteristic.
He acknowledged the loss of Jason Little and Tim Horan during the close season left a massive void to fill. We let Jason and Tim go, and they went with our blessing. However, with the injuries to George Gregan and Stephen Larkham, Australia have now lost four playmakers in quick succession. That has had a fairly significant impact on us.
There are some nice things happening with our play, and the absence of those four players has provided a chance for the younger players to get more experience. John Eales, the Wallabies' lock and captain who lifted the William Webb Ellis Trophy at Cardiff's Millennium Stadium last November, said he felt Scotland would provide a stern examination.
"Scotland are unpredictable at times, and we will have to be vigilant. But no one is as unpredictable as France, and we're delighted to have got that game out of the way," he said. "We're not really bothered about the high expectations. That's only natural after we won the World Cup. The expectations on ourselves, however, are just as high. That doesn't put any extra pressure on us
