THE Wallabies are headed bush.
To prepare for their 2014 Bledisloe Cup offensive, the Qantas Wallabies will be doing a five-day road trip through Dubbo, Orange and Bathurst finishing up in Penrith.
The road trip will kick off on August 4 ahead of the opening Bledisloe Cup Test against New Zealand in Sydney on August 16.
The Bush2Bledisloe trip is the brainchild of coach Ewen McKenzie who's keen to change up the squad's preparation -and hopefully change the result.
"If you continue to repeat the same processes over and over again you can’t expect to get a different result, so I’m excited to be taking the playing group outside of their normal confines as we prepare for the opening Bledisloe Cup," McKenzie said in a statement today.
“We’re only going to improve by coming up with new solutions and by developing Bush2Bledisloe we’re creating an environment which is the inverse of what was done in the past."
The Wallabies last won the Bledisloe in 2002.
McKenzie said the team needed to be engaging with fans outside the major cities.
“For this reason it was really important that the team created its own initiative to give back to the community.
“The reality is we expect these fans to come and watch us play, so we need to make the same commitment by bringing the game and the Qantas Wallabies to them."
McKenzie said sport played a huge role in the spirit of regional communities and there were already plans to develop the concept in new areas next year.
“Club rugby in many areas is the heartbeat of the town,” he said.
“Our squad will get the opportunity to witness that first-hand and I’ve got no doubt they will get just as much out of the experience as our fans.”
The move follows road trips through the bush by both the Waratahs and the Brumbies earlier this year.
The Wallabies’ Bush2Bledisloe Road Trip
- August 4: Dubbo
- August 5: Orange
- August 6: Bathurst
- August 7: Bathurst
- August 8: Penrith