Australia need different mindset for Scotland test, Ikitau says

Nov 11 : Australia centre Len Ikitau said the Wallabies must change their mindset for Sunday's test against Scotland at Murrayfield or risk another damaging defeat after last weekend’s record loss to England.

The 2027 World Cup hosts went down 45-22 at Twickenham on Sunday, the most points Australia have conceded in a test against England. They face a Scotland side also seeking a response after losing heavily to New Zealand.

"England kind of gave it to us from the start and put us on a load of pressure and played the way that they wanted to play and we kind of sat back and watched them," Ikitau said.

"We can't be doing that against Scotland; we really want to be going out there, especially in defence, and put them under the pressure.

"Playing in Scotland, that's where they come alive. We’ve worked on that massively this week," he told a press conference on Wednesday.

Ikitau said he had no idea why Australia were so flat at Twickenham. 

"We had a great week ahead of the game, I thought the preparations were on point but sometimes you get to a game and you're just not there and I felt like we were off as a team and as a collective."

One problem is finding a settled partnership in midfield.

"We’re all over the shop at the moment and there have been some major fixes for us as a backline, working at training," Ikitau said.

"It’s been pretty tough trying to stick with the same centre pairing, and being able to play consistently with the same people, but I feel like we've got a lot of good centres."

(Writing by Mark Gleeson in Cape Town; Editing by Ed Osmond)