Gaffney backs under-fire Gregan

AUSTRALIA coach Alan Gaffney insists under-fire captain George Gregan has the Wallabies’ support to lead the team out of their slump with a victory over England on Saturday.

The calls for Gregan, the world’s most capped player, to be axed have been fierce since the 26-16 defeat by France in Marseille last Saturday.

Under the headline ‘Bye George’, Sydney’s Daily Telegraph called for the 32-year-old to be axed for Saturday’s Cook Cup clash at Twickenham.

But former Munster coach Gaffney insisted: “The squad is wholeheartedly behind George.

George is an outstanding player, an outstanding leader. The squad are very unified as far as this is concerned.

“George is still very enthusiastic and has a very competitive spirit. We have struggled a bit in the tight five this year and it does make it difficult for a number nine.”

Australia head to Twickenham on the back of six straight defeats, and one more would equal the record losing streak of the 1969 Wallabies.

“We have lost six on the trot and that’s unforgivable. There’s no easy solution other than hard work,” said Gaffney.

“We won’t hide behind saying it’s a development tour. It’s not. We’ve come to win four test matches, we can’t do that now, but we’ve got a desire to win the remaining three.

“We’ve been forced into bringing some young boys on this tour because of injuries but in the medium to long term it’s going to be beneficial to Australian rugby.”

Former Australian winger David Campese accused the Wallabies of “going through the motions” against France and joined calls for changes to be made this week. And the first name on his list would be Gregan, who played his 115th test against France.

“He’s got to go. I’ve been saying this for a while,” said Campese.

“All Gregan does is go from ruck to ruck, head down, pass ball. Look at the other half-back (France’s Jean- Baptiste Elissalde), he kicked ahead, and he had a look before every ruck to see what’s happened behind Australia’s line. Something’s got to happen, someone’s got to go, they can’t protect themselves forever,” Campese said.