Wallabies captain Harry Wilson has promised a brutal response when Australia meet the British & Irish Lions in a do-or-die second Test at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on Saturday.
Trailing 1-0 in the three-match series following last week’s 27-19 defeat in Brisbane, the Wallabies know another loss would seal the series for Andy Farrell’s side. But Wilson believes his side are ready to fight fire with fire.
“We want to go out there and impose ourselves physically,” said the back-rower on Friday. “We want to back our skills, start fast and, with a 6-2 bench, it means another person gets to go off the field. So there’s more reason to throw your body around, knowing there’s quality players ready to come in and finish strong.”
Australia were bullied at the breakdown and in the collisions in Brisbane, but welcome a trio of key forwards back into the starting side. Will Skelton and Rob Valetini return from injury to bolster the tight five and back row respectively, while hooker Dave Porecki has been cleared to play following a concussion.
Coach Joe Schmidt has signalled his intent by opting for six forwards on the bench in place of the traditional 5-3 split, anticipating a wet and bruising battle at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.
“A lot of us watched the Pasifika and First Nations XV earlier this week,” added Wilson, referring to the scratch side that pushed the Lions in a bruising midweek fixture. “They went after them with line speed, big hits, and plenty of niggle. It was a great blueprint of how to physically dominate them.”
Wilson’s comments echoed those of Schmidt, who said on Thursday: “We don’t want to be nice, and we don’t want to be submissive.”
Despite the Brisbane defeat, Wilson said the squad had taken belief from their second-half performance, where they narrowed a 24-5 deficit and finished the stronger of the two sides.
“We do feel like we’re improving every week,” said Wilson. “We got away with one against Fiji, but in that first Test, once we had a bit of possession and territory and started playing our sort of footy, we really built into the game.
“We take a lot of confidence from that second half, and we know we’ll need to be even better on Saturday.”
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