Matt Toomua promises Australia will respond to their 2018 debacle by ramming Kyle Sinckler‘s sledging back down his throat at next year’s World Cup.
Sinckler branded the Wallabies a bunch of “f*****g snitches” for dobbing in Kurtley Beale and Adam Ashley-Cooper after they allowed women in their room following last month’s defeat in Wales.
The pair were suspended for the 37-18 loss to England at Twickenham, thereby bringing down a dark curtain on a disastrous year for the Wallabies who suffered a series defeat at home to Ireland and lost nine of their 13 matches.
Head coach Michael Cheika‘s future hangs in the balance pending an internal review, the outcome of which is imminent. However, despite the 2015 World Cup finalists being at a low ebb, midfield ace Toomua predicts a New Year revival.
Leicester man Toomua, who will head back to Super Rugby next summer after agreeing to join Melbourne Rebels, said: “I didn’t hear Sinckler’s remark but when I read about it, I actually thought it was quite funny.
“He’s a decent fella and he probably had the last laugh that day because he had a cracking game, but at the end of the day each team has rules off the field. If you don’t stick by them, what’s the point of having them in the first place?
“Regardless of all that, though, it’s on the field where you’re really judged and for us 2018 simply wasn’t good enough. I don’t think you’ll find any Wallaby or Australian fan who’ll be happy with that season we’ve just had.
“It’s not where we want to be as a team and results were far from ideal, but we’ve done our post-tour reviews, we’ll see how that unfolds and then a lot of the boys will reconvene in January ready to give it a good crack next year.”
Toomua favours Cheika staying put and insists their poor form can be turned around quickly, as evidenced by performances at previous World Cups.
He said: “I can’t control what the ARU do but you’d want to see some stability. It’s a World Cup year and there’s not much time to do it, but history is littered with examples of teams who didn’t have a good year but have done really well.
“England and South Africa did it in 2007 by reaching the final, and the Springboks are a brilliant example of a team that were struggling badly again a year ago but turned it around.
“Things can change pretty quickly – we did it in 2015 – and while having a bad year before a World Cup is not something you’d want in any way, shape or form, you also know that sometimes it’s not all doom and gloom either.
“You only need one or two good performances and suddenly you can catch fire again. We’ve got good players in Australia so we’ll bang into 2019 and it’s just about retaining our belief.”
NEALE HARVEY
