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VIDEO: 'Dangerous' Folau scores brace of tries in Wallabies win
By Tom Webber
Michael Cheika enjoyed seeing Israel Folau produce a “dangerous” display as he scored two tries in Australia’s 37-14 victory over Fiji in Melbourne.
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Full-back Folau ended his 11-game run without scoring for the Wallabies by touching down after four minutes, adding another 15 minutes into the second half.
The former NRL and AFL star built on an impressive run for the Waratahs that has seen him score five times in his past four Super Rugby outings.
Cheika was delighted to see Folau translate that form to the international stage, while also praising the performance of debutant Karmichael Hunt.
“The last few games with the Waratahs and now into this game, he looked very dangerous,” Cheika said of Folau. “I was very happy with his performance.
“I think Karmichael held a nice little holding role in the middle and he got a few carries and his defence was good.
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“His work rate is always excellent so I think, for his first outing, it was pretty handy.”
Standing proud. 👬#AUSvFIJ #ArvoRugby pic.twitter.com/7XsyY0Bd5c
— Wallabies (@wallabies) June 10, 2017
Folau felt he reaped the rewards of taking the pressure off himself and not trying to force anything on the field.
“I’m really a simple person so when I do those things that gets me going, gets me ticking then I go into the game enjoying myself,” he said.
“When I’m feeling like I did this afternoon it brings the best out in me. I simplify a lot of things.
“When I’m trying to do a bit too much or things that are out of the norm for me then I tend to push things or not be myself.
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“I went back to enjoying myself, smiling and making the most of every moment.”
The Wallabies take on Scotland next Saturday in a Test in Sydney.
Cheika hopes to see his team produce a more fluent attacking display against Gregor Townsend’s side, despite putting five tries on Fiji.
He said: “I thought our work rate was pretty good. We had to defend a bit too much but, all in all, our defence was pretty solid as they’re a potent team who had the majority of the ball.
“We did some good things in attack to score those tries with a minimum of ball, but there’s obviously areas we need to refine.”
