Friday 14th September 2007
Australia attack coach Scott Johnson insists the Wallabies are not "whingers" for complaining about having to play their pivotal World Cup match with Wales in Cardiff on Saturday.
Both head coach John Connolly and the Australian Rugby Union (ARU) chief executive John O'Neill this week questioned the fairness of awarding Wales home advantage in such a crunch match.
The victors will be on course to top Pool B and earn a quarter-final against the losers of Friday night's match between struggling England and powerful South Africa.
Connolly repeated his concerns again on Thursday - "I know in the Super 14 the home team wins most of the time and that tells you something" - but Johnson is one Australian who feels very much at home in Cardiff having spent five years working with Wales.
And he believes if the Wallabies can come through this challenge they will be well prepared for the knockout phases.
"We talk about big games, the World Cup final, semi-finals, and trying to emulate those environments is very difficult. We have the perfect forum to do that," said Johnson.
"This is as good as it gets, it is as big as its gets. If we do all right out of this it will put us in a good position later in the tournament."
Wallabies captain Stirling Mortlock is relishing the chance to "turn the crowd" against Wales on Saturday.
"That is half the battle, I love playing here. The atmosphere is awesome. There are not too many grounds in the world that has supporters so vocal and passionate about their team but support the opposition if they play good rugby as well.
"To get out and play attractive rugby will be great and hear the Welsh crowd behind us will be even better."
Johnson was on the Wales staff during the 2005 Grand Slam campaign and took over as caretaker head coach at the end of the 2006 title defence following Mike Ruddock's departure.
He insists Wales have all the weapons required to make a serious imprint on this tournament and backed the inclusion of Gareth Thomas and Steve Jones in the side.
"I said after the last World Cup, of all the Celtic nations the first one to win it will be Wales," said Johnson.
"I felt they had the depth of squad and in my tenure here and since then, they have taken the All Blacks to a one-point loss and have beaten every other nation except South Africa. They can't be too far off.
"If they get a roll on they can do some damage and scare a lot of opponents. Mind you, so can we."
Wales believes Australia have made significant improvements since the 29-29 draw in Cardiff last November, as evidenced by their victory over New Zealand during the Tri-Nations.
Michael Foley has been credited with shoring up their notoriously weak scrum while captain Stirling Mortlock explained Johnson had freshened up their attacking style.
"Jonno has made a significant impact on the whole team, how we attack and how our mindset is on attack as well," said Mortlock.
"It has been a significant lease of life for a lot of guys who were involved in the same system for a number of years.
"Jonno has some very different mindsets on how to play rugby, how to look at things. That has been great for the team."
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