Wallabies coach Robbie Deans is backing Luke Burgess to not only rebound quickly from his Parisian nightmare, but also emerge as one the most dangerous halfbacks in world rugby.
So long as he receives a little help from his teammates.
Burgess had a Test to forget at Stade de France on Saturday night.
After copping a battering from the French forwards at the breakdown throughout the first half, his desperate attempt to clear the ball from the base of one particular scrum resulted in a wild pass sailing over the head of five-eighth Matt Giteau and beyond the deadball line.
From the ensuing five-metre scrum, the Australian pack crumbled, gifting France an untimely penalty try.
“There was a fair bit of pressure on that scrum but, yeah, I asked Gits if he’d shrunk after the game,” Burgess said, trying to make light of his situation.
“But I probably lacked a bit of composure just under that pressure. I dived out and I think I had the ball probably a little bit too close to my body and as I extended my arm … no excuses.”
Burgess’s clanger could have had disastrous consequences for both he and the team, especially after what had been a comfortable 10-0 lead moments before halftime became a three-point deficit for the Wallabies not long after the break.
Deans, though, saw the situation as an ideal opportunity to show his faith in Burgess, waiting until the 65th minute before replacing him. And, even then, it was more because Burgess had been knocked around by the flu in the lead-up to the match.
“I think we got the timing pretty right,” Deans said. “We have total confidence and faith in him, and we will continue to have.
“He could have been rattled, but it was just important that he wasn’t, that he wasn’t distracted.”
Still in his first season of Test rugby, Burgess showed the maturity not to dwell on his blunder.
“I let it go straight away because it’s selfish, I think, if you worry about their own mistake and you walk around worrying about yourself,” he said.
“We’ve all made ourselves aware of that. If you make a mistake, move on and think about the team.”
Burgess also admitted he needed to be more direct with his running, instead of being “too lateral out of the breakdown”.
Deans, though, said his Wallabies teammates were as much to blame for that as the halfback.
“The key is the connections. He needs the guidance from outside,” Deans said.
“It can be more the onus on the people around him. It’s a two-way street. It’s like a lineout throw and the receiver and the lifter; everyone blames the thrower but there’s a lot more components to it.
“There’s a lot going on, he’s got a lot to deal with and the greatest advantage is to have an idea in mind before you get your hands on it because you don’t get a lot of time and space.
“We’ve done a bit of work on it and we’ll continue to and you’ll see him master that area and, I tell you what, when he does, he’s going to create some serious grievances.”
