Mortlock rues mistakes

Wallabies captain upset at ill discipline and handling errors

Last updated: 18th July 2009   Subscribe to RSS Feed

Mortlock rues mistakes

Mortlock: Errors

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Australia captain Stirling Mortlock said poor disciplinefrom the Wallabies was the deciding factor in their Tri-Nations defeat in New Zealand.

Mortlock's men stormed into an early lead at Eden Park, but Stephen Donald's five penalties ensured the All Blacks secured a 22-16 victory.

The Aussie skipper blamed discipline and turnovers for the defeat, which saw them make a losing start to their Tri-Nations campaign.

"You can look back at a few things we did but poor discipline let us down especially into the wind in the second half," Mortlock said after the defeat.

"Turnovers really let us down and when you give a team as good as the All Blacks that many opportunities you can't win a game."

Referee

Mortlock would not comment on referee Craig Joubert penalising Australia tighthead Al Baxter on a number of occasions, as the Wallabies struggled in the scrum.

"I don't pretend to know what goes on in the scrum and we'll have a look at that hope to improve in our next match," he said.

"I think this group is creating more opportunities and it's disappointing that we didn't take advantage of those.

"For us it was a great learning experience for us and hopefully we won't find ourselves in this situation again."

Wallabies coach Robbie Deans felt his side had made progress compared to last year's 39-10 drubbing in the corresponding fixture.

"We built a lot of pressure and created a lot of opportunities but didn't come out of it as we would have liked in terms of turning that into points," he said.

"That kept the All Blacks close and allowed them to play that conservative sort of game and grind it out.

"But there was some good play from our lads. We're much better than this time a year ago but still frustrated to be short. It's work in progress."

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