Wallabies to gain from semi-final pain

Robbie Deans believes there is a silver lining to the cloud hanging over Australia after their sobering semi-final defeat at the hands of New Zealand. His team have gained critical experience and motivation for next time.

The Wallabies coach insisted one of the greatest assets the All Blacks possessed was a central group of players who had previously tried, and painfully failed, to get their hands on the World Cup.

"What the All Blacks have is a group who have suffered on many occasions,” said Deans.

“The core of their group, the nucleus of their group, this is their third attempt and they've got that burning desire, that fire in the belly for that reason.

“And they've also got that mental resilience. We don't have that as yet, to the same extent.”

Australia boast the tournament's youngest squad, and they perhaps paid the price on Sunday as their match 22 contained only five players who had competed at a World Cup before.

Shot at redemption

By comparison, nine of the All Blacks who took the field at Eden Park were carrying the pain of previous World Cup failure.

Deans said the whole Australian squad would be better for the experience of their semi-final defeat and that youth was on their side as they plan for a shot at redemption in four years’ time.

In the process, the 52-year-old neatly side-stepped the question of whether he planned to be at the Wallabies' helm for the next campaign.

"I'd love to see this group one day - and there's no doubt there will be a significant number of them who will get another opportunity - win a World Cup,” he said.

“And either way, whether I was there or not, I'd take pride in any part I'd played in it."

One player Deans believes will be better for the experience gained in New Zealand is James Horwill, who underwent a crash course in skippering his country playing sudden-death rugby on the world’s biggest stage.

Learning curve

The second row affectionately known as ‘Big Kev’ was handed the captaincy less than a month before the tournament kicked off after senior flanker Rocky Elsom was controversially stripped of the role.

Before he knew it, Horwill was leading out the team at his first Rugby World Cup and he acknowledged the learning curve was steep.

"It's a different style of rugby" he said. "Everything is amped up. We'll have to learn from this moving forward. World Cups are something completely different to any type of rugby I've played before.

"There is no time to take your foot off the throat, so to speak. You've always got to be prepared for any game and anything that comes at you.

“In that sense, that's why it's so unique, because it's just so relentless."

It is this newfound understanding of exactly what is required that Deans believes will drive a strong World Cup challenge from the Wallabies in 2015.

But the Kiwi-born coach was certainly not ignoring the cloud of disappointment in the aftermath of Sunday’s defeat in favour of any silver lining.

The suggestion that this year's campaign might be considered a success was given a firm backhand.

"Not in our eyes. We aspire to more than that. There's your answer.”