THE Wallabies will prepare for a tilt at their first successful Bledisloe Cup campaign since 2002 with a training camp in the central west in August.
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The Ewan McKenzie-coached squad will hold training sessions in Central West Rugby Union centres Orange, Bathurst and Dubbo in preparation for the first Bledisloe Cup blockbuster with the All Blacks at ANZ Stadium on Saturday, August 16.
In Orange last Sunday for a referee and coach training development day at Kinross Wolaroi School, Wallabies attack coach Jim McKay was excited about the Australian side’s presence in the central west.
“It’ll be really good for the region and the area,” McKay said.
“It’s a pleasure and a privilege to coach the guys. They all come from different provinces, Super teams, so the challenge is to get them all playing our Wallaby way.
“But it’s an absolute pleasure and a privilege, and then to come out here, to bring the game out here, they’ll all be coming.”
McKay said this weekend’s trip to the area was used as both a developmental tool and a means to strengthen the relationship between the Australian Rugby Union and the central west ahead of the Wallabies camp.
“It’s good to come to these regions,” he continued.
“It shows we have an interest and a presence in the area.
“In essence (Sunday’s development day) was just to help and give an insight into more about what we’re doing at the Wallabies, have a presence out here and the players can see a pathway they can go.”
With the calibre of attacking weapons in the Wallabies arsenal at the moment, McKay, the holder of a Masters of Coaching and Education degree after completing his final thesis on the role of unstructured practice in elite rugby at Sydney University, could well have the best role in Australian sport.
Unstructured and the likes of Israel Folau, Quade Cooper, Kurtley Beale, Will Genia and Matt Toomua go hand-in-hand.
The secret behind it all clicking?
“You want to try and give the ball to them as much as possible. There’s no coaching secrets there,” he laughed, the Wallabies, currently ranked third in the world, set to tackle France in three Tests in June before tackling the Bledisloe Cup.
“Our objective is to be the best.
“We’ve got a lot of work to do. South Africa and New Zealand are ahead of us at the moment, but our objective is to start beating these teams and once we start beating them, beat them regularly. We’ve got a lot of work to do.”
Embracing the chance to engage with coaches from Orange City, the Bathurst Bulldogs and CWRU representative coaches, McKay was looking forward to giving back to a region that’s given the Wallabies the likes of Ben McCalman and Beau Robinson.
“It’s important we engage in these stake holders and for them to see that,” he said.
“Those guys (Robinson and McCalman) are really good models.”
