Rugby-Australia need different mindset for Scotland test, Ikitau says

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)