Moore's call to Wallabies leaders

Wallabies skipper Stephen Moore says it's the little details Australia need to work on to prevent England scoring a clean sweep of the Test series.

Wallabies captain Stephen Moore

Stephen Moore says fixing small details is the key to turning around the Wallabies' fortunes. (AAP)

Wallabies captain Stephen Moore has put the acid on the Wallabies leadership group and insists fixing small details is the key to avoiding a Test series whitewash against England in Sydney.

The Wallabies are under the pump after England won the first two Tests in Brisbane and Melbourne to clinch their first series win in Australia, then declared their determination to complete a 3-0 sweep on Saturday.

Hooker Moore is adamant Australia doesn't need to make major adjustments to their game despite the back-to-back losses.

"It's just those tiny little things that might have been a little bit off on the weekend that we need to fix up," Moore said.

"As leaders we've got to drive that and make sure our communication on the field is spot on so that we know what we're going to do in every situation."

The Wallabies leadership group is Moore, Michael Hooper, James Slipper, Israel Folau and the injured David Pocock.

With Moore replaced at hooker by Tatafu Polota-Nau after 55 minutes, Hooper took the reins for the closing stages in Melbourne.

Moore backed Hooper, who has been questioned in some quarters for turning down penalty kicks at goal in favour of continuing to press for tries.

"All those decisions are made in the context of the game and the coaching staff have input into that. We talk about that during the week," Moore said.

"In every game you make you make the decision that you think is best for the team and we'll keep doing that."

However, Moore made it clear the on and off-field team leaders needed to come to the fore in preparation, though he insisted avoiding embarrassment was not the major motivation.

"This is the time when you'd like to think that it (the leadership) comes out the most, be it the coaching staff or the senior players," Moore said.

"We've got to show that leadership this week and make sure that we prepare as well as we ever have this week.

"That we're motivated as well as we can be because it's another opportunity for us to perform. So that's really the be-all and end-all for us."

Moore said he was happy with improvements to the lineout in the second Test but the Wallabies needed to keep developing that facet along with their scrum.

He revealed the Wallabies might spend more preparation time this week focusing on the refereeing.

"We don't spend a lot of time talking about that, so maybe that's something we might need to talk a bit more about internally," Moore said.

Moore wasn't critical of South African referee Craig Joubert for reversing a penalty to the Wallabies after the Australian captain rushed in to assist his halfback Nick Phipps after he was illegally tackled by England flanker Chris Robshaw.

"That's the way it went. I just went in there to look after my mate and my teammate to make sure that he wasn't in any danger," Moore said.


Share

3 min read

Published

Source: AAP



Share this with family and friends


Get SBS News daily and direct to your Inbox

Sign up now for the latest news from Australia and around the world direct to your inbox.

By subscribing, you agree to SBS’s terms of service and privacy policy including receiving email updates from SBS.

Download our apps
SBS News
SBS Audio
SBS On Demand

Listen to our podcasts
An overview of the day's top stories from SBS News
Interviews and feature reports from SBS News
Your daily ten minute finance and business news wrap with SBS Finance Editor Ricardo Gonçalves.
A daily five minute news wrap for English learners and people with disability
Get the latest with our News podcasts on your favourite podcast apps.

Watch on SBS
SBS World News

SBS World News

Take a global view with Australia's most comprehensive world news service
Watch the latest news videos from Australia and across the world