SYDNEY - Australia coach Michael Cheika urged the Wallabies to turn on the style and attack on Friday as they seek to deny Ireland a rare series victory in the third and final Test.
After the Wallabies went down 26-21 in an attritional game last week in Melbourne, Cheika said expansive play was the best way to overcome the Six Nations champions. The three-match series is poised at 1-1 after Australia won 18-9 in Brisbane before the Irish, who have never won a three-Test tour in the southern hemisphere, hit back last weekend.
"You can't win finals without scoring tries and playing footy, I'm a true believer in that," Cheika said, ahead of Saturday's decider in Sydney. "They did well last week to restrict us from doing that and we'll be looking to try and open up this week."
PREVIOUSLY: Australia bolster lineout for series-deciding third Test against Ireland
Skipper Michael Hooper said the Wallabies needed to control the ball and cut down on conceding penalties, as well as going after tries, if they want to finish on top. The Irish controlled possession and territory for much of the first two Tests, but the Wallabies have still outscored them five tries to two.
Star fly-half Johnny Sexton proved the difference last week with two conversions and four penalties as Ireland won their first Test in Australia since 1979. Hooper said the Wallabies can turn things around in the final Test by showing more attention to detail.
"Yeah, there's a lot of upside in that we can score points. Even right when the game is on the line we are able to put some nice attacking phases together," he told reporters on Friday. "We looked at that and thought that was really nice. In the negative of allowing them to control so much possession, you think if we changed a couple of things here we can get it back. We weren't that far off what we needed to do."
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Hooper said greater focus would also help get the Wallabies home after some aberrations in the defeat in Melbourne. "There were penalties for hitting guys off the ball, ruck stuff and some set-piece stuff as well last week," he said.
"It is attention to detail, and an intent thing. We will take those out of the game. We didn't have as many in the first (Test) because our intent was a bit better. A mindset change will allow you to be more disciplined and put you in the right positions on the field. We've had two games now, both teams (have felt) each other out. I'm sure that they've cooked up a few things to try and catch us off guard tomorrow as we have too."