The Wallabies are done with dealing with close losses according to scrum-half Tate McDermott, understanding they need to find a way to close out victories against the All Blacks.
The Australians fell 31-28 to the All Blacks after trailing by as much as 17 points at one stage.
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It’s the third time in three years the Wallabies have lost by less than three points to the Kiwis, with Saturday’s trip to Wellington marking their first visit to the New Zealand capital since their 16-all draw in 2020.
Wallabies coach Joe Schmidt said after the game the side ‘can't finish a close second’ anymore as the Bledisloe heads back over the Tasman for another year.
As the Wallabies settle into Wellington, the words of their coach are ringing in their eyes as they look to turn around their fortunes.
“We've probably been in this position before where we were almost good enough, and there's an element of frustration to that,” scrum half Tate McDermott said.
“The review was a mixture because we had to address what happened in that first half and also what really worked for us in that second half so we’ve wrapped that up and our mind’s on Wellington.
“There was a lot of good things we did, but then there was a lot of times where we missed the mark. We're done with the whole almost got there in the end. We want to change that into we finished the job, we got that done,” hooker Brandon Paenga-Amosa added.
“It’s just building into the week and carrying the momentum.”
In that same period, the Wallabies have also been guilty of failing to put back-to-back strong performances in the Bledisloe Cup series.
In 2022, a controversial after the siren loss in Melbourne was followed by a 40-14 defeat in Auckland whilst the narrow defeat in Dunedin last year was preceded by a 31-point defeat at the MCG.
Scrumhalf McDermott was involved in both games in 2023 and was keen to make sure it didn’t happen again.
“That’s been our challenge as of late. Respect is learnt and we come out and don’t back it up over here, which has probably been the trend for the last couple of years, it doesn't mean anything,” he said.
“For us, we've got to make sure that we compete and we put ourselves in positions to win those moments.”
