Australia's Bernard Foley rules out complacency against Wales
Friday 10 November 2017 18:19, UK
Bernard Foley says there is no danger of Australia resting on their laurels after beating world champions New Zealand three weeks ago.
The Wallabies face Wales in Cardiff on Saturday where they will target a 13th successive victory over their hosts.
Such dominance - and the fact they toppled New Zealand - makes them firm favourites to extend that winning run and continue Wales' sequence of not having won an opening autumn Test since 2002.
"It was the first taste of beating the All Blacks for a number of young guys, and it was big, but it was more reward for the hard work put in throughout the year," said Australia fly-half Foley.
"We do not hang our hat on winning one game or beating one side. We have to do it over and over again, and the challenges we will face in the northern hemisphere are just as big as that Test.
"We have spoken about that, and we have to rise to the challenge, because winning away from home is not easily done. Every player has to find a way to win, and that is the challenge for us over the coming weeks.
"It has been a really good year with a number of new guys blooded after a big turnover in the squad. Those who have come in have the appetite for hard work.
"We are by no means close to being the finished picture, but what the squad is doing is building in certain positions, experience and the knowledge of what it takes to play Test match rugby.
"In that sense we are on track for Japan [2019 World Cup] without being anywhere near where we will need to be in two years' time."
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Australia face England at Twickenham next week, live on Sky Sports, before meeting Scotland in Edinburgh seven days later, but first up for them is a Wales team fielding three home Test debutants and minus four injured British and Irish Lions.
Wallabies skipper Michael Hooper, though, says his team will take little notice of their long winning run at Wales' expense.
"We are not taking anything from that," Hooper said.
"We are a different team from last year, and a different team from the year before. You can only take a little bit of what has worked against them in the past, and use it in the present.
"You use experiences of playing a Welsh team in this stadium [Principality Stadium] too. It is a wonderful place to play, but it is also very loud, very intimidating if you are on the wrong side of the ball.
"When we ran out on to the field today, there were a lot of guys saying: 'how good is this?' You forget that we are a young team, and for some guys it is their first trip over to Europe.
"There are players that have played here before - we will use it as a motivation."
