Connolly dismisses talk of coaching rift

Australia coach John Connolly insists reports of friction between his trio of assistants is nothing more than media speculation.

Some newspapers recently claimed the relationship between Michael Foley, Scott Johnson and John Muggleton had become strained, with the latter said to have admitted feeling unappreciated.

But Connolly said: “They work closely together and we’ve seen no evidence of it.

“You’re always going to challenge each other and we’ve definitely had some robust discussions at times but I think the goal is always to do as well as you can.

“We meet every day and we’re away regularly together and I think at times there are creative tensions when you’ve got 45 guys on tour together for six months.”

Connolly also rejected the suggestion that any tension would unsettle the Wallabies’ preparations ahead of their World Cup opener against Japan on September 8.

“We have a steering committee made up of senior players and it’s very much a player-driven team in that regard,” he said.

“And we’ve never experienced any negative feedback whatsoever of any great degree.”

The veteran coach also argued that the Wallabies’ recent run of impressive on-field performances is proof enough that all is well inside the camp.

He added: “I think we’ve all seen that you don’t beat the All Blacks in Melbourne and do what we did in South Africa without there being a lot of spirit and commitment in the team.

“The first thing that goes when you have internal issues is those things drop off and I think the Australian public are quite comfortable with where we are at the moment, compared to where we were two years ago.

“We’ve got a team meeting this afternoon (Tuesday) and the four coaches are all going to get up and have a hug in front of the team – we might even do it topless.”