Wallabies desire new land to serve as a fortress.
On Saturday night, the Wallabies will officially open the new Allianz Stadium to the world, with captain James Slipper confident his team can transform the Sydney venue into a "fortress."
The prop, however, is hoping that his Australia team won't require additional inspiration when it takes on South Africa in the Rugby Championship, focusing instead on resolving a poor track record of consistency that has plagued the team recently.
With a struggling New Zealand team up next and the Wallabies in a strong position on the four-nation table after defeating the Springboks 25-17 last weekend in Adelaide, history appears to be waiting to be written.
But Slipper understood that in order to defeat the Springboks once more and begin the Bledisloe Cup series with real momentum, a significantly improved effort would be required.
This year has been difficult for us because we haven't been able to follow up a strong performance with another one, he told reporters on Friday.
I'd rather play on a team where we don't rely on a stadium to energize us before a game, even though it will undoubtedly be helpful to us.
For us, a sizable Sydney crowd who are fervent rugby fans, I can see this stadium turning into a fortress.
From the victory last weekend, there are many things that need to be fixed, especially the lineout performance and the sometimes-overworked scrum.
For the first time in nearly 50 Test matches, Wallabies head coach Dave Rennie chose to stick with the same team in an effort to get better results.
The lineout was a significant area of our game that struggled on the weekend, so assistant coach Dan (McKellar) had us working on it pretty hard "stated Slipper.
"You have to be sincere there and get better because you know the Springboks are a good team.
The scrum was also under pressure at times; the set piece is just so crucial in rugby Test matches.
Although it is currently last in the standings, South Africa, which is playing host to the All Blacks once more, could easily tie for first place with Argentina at the end of the round on wins.
Slipper acknowledged that the next three games offered the opportunity to take advantage of everything.
His words are "Argentina is demonstrating that they are a formidable opponent. It demonstrates how fierce the competition is."
We've got four of the best teams in the world competing against one another week in and week out. We're obviously coming off a good result, but I guess because it's such a brief competition, each win and each backup win is essential.
"Momentum is a thing in sports, and hopefully we pick up a little momentum going into that match with the All Blacks," said the coach.
