Wallabies warned about Welsh radar boot

After improving their attack and defence, ruck discipline is the next piece in the Wallabies puzzle especially with Welsh kicker Leigh Halfpenny looming.

Off-key Christian Leali'ifano will remain goakicker as the Wallabies have been warned to clean up their breakdown act and deny Wales' sharpshooter Leigh Halfpenny penalty chances this weekend.

The normally reliable Leali'ifano lost his radar in the 21-15 win over Scotland, making for a tougher night than it should have been at Murrayfield with a four-from-nine success rate.

Australia cannot afford such a return against the Six Nations champions at Millennium Stadium on Saturday night, especially when Halfpenny is lethal from anywhere within his half of the field.

Despite Quade Cooper showing improvement as a goalkicker, coach Ewen McKenzie indicated Leali'ifano, likely to move back to inside centre in a restructured backline, would keep the high-pressure role.

McKenzie blamed the loose Murrayfield surface for the Brumbies No.12's uncharacteristic display.

"Christian last week was an aberration," he said. "I look at all the kickers during the warm-up and they were all struggling with their footing on the ground.

"He kicked some nice kicks in the game and just missed a couple. It was a frustrating night in that sense, but he's been very, very reliable for us prior to that.

"I'm not going to judge him on one game but we will work out our team first then work out our goalkicker."

McKenzie is more concerned his team improve their discipline at the breakdown after giving away a string of first-half penalty goals in their past two Tests to keep Scotland and Ireland in the contest.

The coach attributes their problems to "over-zealousness" in trying to turn the ball over and has preached a safety-first approach at the crucial tackle zone.

Fullback Halfpenny was the players of the series for the British and Irish Lions in Australia this year, finishing with a record 49-point haul as he kicked 18 from 22 attempts - including 13 penalties - in the 2-1 triumph.

"It's a strong area for us to focus on," McKenzie said. "We know the quality of their goalkicking so we don't need to be giving them any leg-up in that sense.

"We have to curb our enthusiasm and make sure we make the right decisions".

After improving their attacking potency (scoring 24 tries from the past six Tests) and defence (conceding five in the past four), breakdown discipline is the next piece in the Wallabies' puzzle.

McKenzie, sporting a 5-6 record since taking over from Robbie Deans, points to Australia's breakdown superiority as the main reason for winning the past eight meetings against Wales, as well as getting the "rub of the green" in the past three nailbiters - decided by two points or less.

But he felt the Lions' success - where Dan Lydiate, Sam Warburton and Toby Faletau all played in the back-row - showed Wales had since improved.

Wales are missing Lions centres Jamie Roberts and Jonathan Davies, as well as prop Adam Jones, but are expected to have Alex Cuthbert back from injury to join fellow giant George North on the wings.


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Source: AAP


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