Aussies pay dear price for Wellington slip
The Australian team finished the Wellington leg of the World Series in 10th position – after defeats to Fiji (12-26) and South Africa (0-28) saw them drop out of the Cup competition on Day One at the weekend.
Despite recording two wins out of a possible three on Day Two of competition, a 17-19 defeat to Kenya in the Challenge Trophy Final saw the finish in 10th position.
The bigger blow was injuries to Boyd Killingworth (shoulder), Sam Myers (shoulder) and Alex Gibbon (ankle) – resulting in the Aussies having only three players on the bench against Kenya.
Coach Andy Friend said he was "really impressed" with the performance of the young guys.
"Tate McDermott has been picked out of nowhere to represent his country and he has handled himself really well on the world stage," Friend said.
"There is some really good youth coming through which is pleasing and it was impressive how they stood up this weekend.
"I thought today we came out and played some really good rugby against Samoa and we were really focused against Kenya.
"Tenth is not what we want but there are some really good signs there moving forward.
"We'll have a look at finalising the squad [for the Sydney leg of the World Series this coming weekend] on Wednesday, but at the end of the day we'll have 12 fit players who will be very chuffed to play on their home soil in front of their family and friends."
Source: @rugbycomau
