Ashley-Cooper stays positive

Wallabies back remains upbeat despite loss to South Africa

Last updated: 31st August 2010   Subscribe to RSS Feed

Ashley-Cooper stays positive

Ashley-Cooper: Happy with Australia's progress

We feel that we are improving in each game. We have played the two best teams in the world over the last few weeks and just come up a bit short

Adam Ashley-Cooper
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Australia centre Adam Ashley-Cooper is optimistic for the rest of the Wallabies' Tri-Nations campaign despite their 44-31 defeat to South Africa on Saturday.

James O'Connor ran in two tries to follow-up Will Genia's second-minute score as the visitors raced into an early 21-7 lead at Loftus Versfeld.

But the Springboks fought back and eventually eased away to a comfortable win - their first victory of this year's competition.

The Wallabies still have only one win in the Tri-Nations so far heading into another away clash with the world champions and their final fixture against the dominant All Blacks.

Despite the recent disappointments, Ashley-Cooper remains upbeat over Australia's chances to gain revenge in Bloemfontein on Saturday.

"There is a good belief in the squad that we are heading in the right direction," the 26-year-old said.

Improving

"We feel that we are improving in each game. We have played the two best teams in the world over the last few weeks and just come up a bit short," he added.

He added: "A week is more than enough time to prepare for a Test match especially when you are playing back to back against the same team.

"You can learn a lot from your opposition's structures and what worked for you and what didn't."

South Africa ended a run of four consecutive defeats with the victory in Pretoria but captain John Smit says his side still need to find improvements if they are to contend at next year's World Cup.

"The second half was a little bit closer to what we want. But after the start we had, we know we definitely need to tighten up - that really complicated matters," the veteran hooker said.

"We wanted a lot more accuracy and it came after the first 15 minutes, but that is not the type of rugby that will win you the World Cup.

"We want to show patience and play on our own terms."

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