Larkham reveals confusion in the Aussie ranks
July 5, 2001

The Wallabies defensive frailties in the first Test last Saturday have been blamed on a new formation the world champions were experimenting with.

Fly half Stephen Larkham has revealed that a new alignment in defence brought in by defensive co-ordinator John Muggleton caused confusion.

In the game the Lions Irish centre pairing of Brian O'Driscoll and Rob Henderson ripped the Aussie midfield wide open time and again, O'Driscoll often finding himself up against forwards in the back line.

"We varied our alignments, just slight changes in who I was marking up against. There was a bit of confusion going into the game. Confusion over what Muggo told us to do and what I thought he told us to do," Larkham said.

"It's as simple as that and that's been fixed up this week. We were too complacent. It's very rare you see an Australian side put in two poor performances back to back.

"We're big enough to admit our mistakes and this week we've all tried to rectify our mistakes. It won't be the same this week."

Larkham will again line up for the Wallabies in Melbourne on Saturday despite having been forced off early last weekend with an elbow injury.

His dual with his nearest rival for the tag of best fly half in the world, England fly half Jonny Wilkinson, was one of the most eagerly awaited of the Lions tour and so far the Newcastle Falcons' playmaker can claim the upper hand in their personal dual.

However, Larkham is determined to make up for the Brisbane debacle and conceded that his side are under pressure to perform and save the series.

"There's not a lot of pressure, just an eagerness to get back out there to make up for what I did, where I let the side down. It's a pretty bad feeling, knowing you haven't had a good game and the team has lost. There could be a little bit of pressure in that I don't want to make the same mistakes - but I don't think that'll happen."

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