Australia stay grounded as they focus on Wales

ADAM Ashley-Cooper insists that Australia will not get ahead of themselves after dumping England out of the World Cup and emphatically underlining their title credentials.
Adam Ashley-Cooper: Belief. Picture: GettyAdam Ashley-Cooper: Belief. Picture: Getty
Adam Ashley-Cooper: Belief. Picture: Getty

The Wallabies return to Twickenham next Saturday for a Pool A decider against Wales.

The winners are likely to secure a last-eight clash against Scotland or Japan, while the losers face a probable appointment with South Africa.

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“In every game we play we build on that self-belief. There is a lot of it in the team, but we haven’t won anything yet,” ­said Wallabies wing Ashley-Cooper.

“It is very much just doing your own role, moment by moment, knowing what your role is and winning those individual battles. We are gaining a lot of confidence with the wins, but we don’t want to get too far ahead of ourselves. We have got a big Test match against Wales coming up and then a quarter-final after that.

“We all want to be world champions and it is a matter of improving each day. It was a special win [against England], but as soon as Monday comes we will be preparing for Wales.

“The key to the game was starting well and we certainly did that. We got a lot of momentum and we closed out a very good win.

“We have been saying all year about being consistent. At the moment we are a good team, but we want to be a great team.”

Wales have lost their ten Tests against Australia – seven of those defeats were by six points or less – which suggests the Wallabies have a clear edge going into Saturday’s encounter.

Ashley-Cooper added: “We have had a good run against Wales but anything can happen. A lot of results in this tournament have proved that.

“From my World Cup experience, finishing top of your pool is very important.

“We knew the atmosphere was going to be massive [against England] – probably the biggest we have ever experienced. It was very loud in the warm-up and it was very hard to communicate.”