Roos need to lift
Sunday, 19 November 2006 @ 1:12 PM
sportal.com.au
Victorious coach Ricky Stuart has agreed with counterpart Brian Noble's assessment the Kangaroos will need to take their game to higher plane to beat New Zealand in Saturday's Tri Nations final.
A nt display from captain Darren Lockyer, who scored one try, had a hand in three others and converted a second-half field goal with British momentum building laid the platform for Saturday's 33-10 win over the Lions.
Lockyer and recalled half-back Johnathan Thurston ran the show for the Aussies in the first-half with three converted tries giving Stuart's side a handy 18-4 lead at the interval.
But a courageous second-half fight back from the Lions prompted Noble to say he though Australia would need improve to beat the reigning champions in the Sydney decider.
"Australia were deserved winners but the scoreline probably flatters them in the end with that late score," the GB coach said.
"I think the Australians will have to step up a little bit. They will, they generally do in finals but I think it's going to be a really close game."
Although they have already beaten the Kiwis twice in the current Test series to book an early berth in the final, Stuart will be well aware of close tussles the pair enjoyed last year.
Each side won one game apiece in the lead-up before New Zealand thumped Australia 24-0 in the final.
And Stuart admitted he had reminded his side of that exact fact after the game.
"That's a fair call and something we have spoken to the players about," he said of Noble's comments.
"But don't lose sight of the fact that they (Britain) are a good football team out there tonight."
He preferred, however, to saviour his side's sweet revenge victory after a fortnight's discussion about the upset defeat to the British in Sydney.
Patchy defensive efforts so far this year has seen the Kangaroos give up 18, 15 and 23 points in their past three encounters.
But after holding firm under some intense second-half pressure, Stuart praised the nature of the 23-point victory, particularly after racing to a 12-point lead inside seven minutes.
"It was a lot different to what we've had over the last three games," he said. "I think definitely two, maybe the three of them we've had the opposition score against us."
"We've been on the back of the penalty counts and we haven't had good completion rates."
"But tonight I think we completed eight-out-of-eight in our first phase of the game and it helped us settle into the match."