Aussies make it personal

Ashley-Cooper said the Wallabies players had taken their semi-final loss to New Zealand personally on Sunday because they felt they had let their country down. Now he’s asking his country to throw its support behind the Wallabies in the battle for third place, no matter how great the disappointment that Australia is out of cup contention.

“They need to know that the group here representing the country care a lot,” he said. “Obviously we suffered a pretty significant loss on the weekend and everyone was very upset by it and everyone took it personally. We’ve got an opportunity to turn things around and we really want to win this game.” Ashley-Cooper said Sunday’s 20-6 semi-final loss was a bitter blow to all of the Wallabies’ players. It represented the end of their ambitions to become the first nation to win three World Cups. But the players had to regroup quickly and concentrate on Friday’s match against a young but rapidly developing Welsh side.

“I took [the semi-final loss] personally, absolutely,” he said. “I think all of us did. We were extremely upset. And I don’t think we were upset for ourselves. We were upset for the country. To let ourselves down is one thing but to let the supporters down, the fans and the country down is another.”

About the match on Friday, Ashley-Cooper said: “It’s another opportunity to put on the Wallabies jersey and nobody is going to take that for granted,” he said. “There’s a bronze medal on offer and everyone is pretty excited. It’s the industry we’re in – you win some, you lose some.”