Wallabies will take revenge, pledges Foley
BERNARD FOLEY says Australia will be out for revenge on Saturday after their 3- 0 series drubbing by England back home in the summer.
The Wallabies fly-half has good memories of playing against England at Twickenham. He was the chief destroyer at the 2015 World Cup, scoring a record 28 points in the 33-13 humiliation that sent Stuart Lancaster’s England crashing out of their own tournament at the pool stage.
But then he lost to England three times in consecutive weeks at home in June and the playmaker said the Australians were not well prepared for that series.
‘For us it was a very disappointing series,’ he said. ‘It was tough to swallow but we had to give real credit to England.
‘Looking back on it there was a lack of preparation before that series, coming straight out of the mid-season of Super Rugby, but we have to put that behind us now. We’re looking for revenge.’
Foley knew their style needed to change after the England series.
‘We had to change our whole mentality after that,’ he said. ‘We have tried to evolve our game and learn from our mistakes in that England series.
‘Our style there didn’t win Test matches — we were the first to acknowledge that. We had to be smarter in the way we do things.’
If anything, this ‘Grand nd Slam’ tour to Europee has saved face for the Wallabies. They scraped second in the Rugby Championship —a full 16 points behind the All Blacks — and have lost eight matches in 14 this year, r, their 27- 24 defeat by Ireland last weekendend ending hopes of a Europeanuropean sweep. But wins against Wales, Scotland and France have put a positive shine on their 2016.
Foley has started every match this season for the Wallabies, flitting between fly- half and centre. He is set to start at No 10 on Saturday as Eddie Jones’ England side look to complete the perfect year of 13 wins.
Foley returns to the scene where he demolished the House of Lancaster last year by scoring two wonderful tries.
The second came from a midfield ruck just outside the 22 when he quickly switched the play, before swapping passes with Kurtley Beale and going past Ben Youngs and Mike Brown. ‘Personally it was really satisfying,’ he added. ‘The second try was a team move — it’s great when plans come off on the biggest stage. It was great for the team. We went there with a game-plan and it worked. ‘Everyone earmarked that game. We had three or four months lead-up, too, so for it to all come together on the night was more satisfying than my personal achievements. That night gave me a lot of confidence.’ England have not lost since that World Cup match. Beat Foley and Australia on Saturday and it will consign the Wallabies to their worst ever year, with nine defeats. But in the back of English minds must be Foley — and what he did at Twickenham 13 months ago.