Bledisloe Cup preparations took an unwanted turn for Australia after three players were dropped for disciplinary issues, but the offending parties are already earning their way back into the good books.
That’s according to team captain Michael Hooper, who addressed the matter while praising the responses of Marika Koroibete, Isi Naisarani and Pone Fa’amausili.
Taking too much advantage of the fact they had no training the following day, it came to light the trio extended a Saturday drinking session well past curfew inside their hotel rooms.
Coach Dave Rennie responded by dropping the three Melbourne Rebels for the upcoming Bledisloe Cup opener against New Zealand this Saturday.
And while Hooper agreed his team-mates didn’t act with the proper professionalism that night, he gave fair consideration to their improved efforts in the days since.
"We've spoken a lot about what it's going to take to beat this All Blacks team, and the decisions that were made (to keep drinking) never aligned with that," the Wallabies captain said.
"You can judge a lot by people's actions and their actions have been superb since that (punishment) began.
"They've been training hard and doing their own thing at times as well to get back into the shape they need to do play.
"We've had conversations within the group. We've moved forward with it. That's all we can do.
"People will make mistakes, we understand that and move on.”
Rennie made good on his promise after the three failed to feature in his squad for the Bledisloe curtain-raiser, with no room for Quade Cooper as he looks to come back from a four-year absence.
The omission of wing star Koroibete in particular could hurt Australia’s chances of clinching their first win at Auckland ’s Eden Park since 1986.
The teams were supposed to play there before moving onto Wellington’s Sky Stadium for the second instalment of the Bledisloe, but a late change means both fixtures will now take place in Auckland.
Those axed players may have done enough to earn their way back into Rennie’s plans for the Eden Park rematch, at which point either team could seal an early win in the best-of-three series.
The Wallabies coach said “a big chunk” of the Australia squad was “pretty angry” with Koroibete, Naisarani and Fa’amausili for their ill discipline a week out from facing the All Blacks.
New Zealand have held the Bledisloe Cup for 18 years, with Australia beating their trans-Tasman rivals in only 10 of their 54 meetings since they the All Blacks claimed the title in 2003.
Hooper—who made his Wallabies debut in 2012—has been present for four of those wins and captained Australia to victory over New Zealand on three occasions.
The most recent of those was a narrow 24-22 triumph in Brisbane last November, but replicating that result under the Auckland lights will prove a different challenge altogether.
