Genia no certainty for Wallabies start

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TEST coach Ewen McKenzie concedes a crisis of confidence is sabotaging the Wallabies attack, but he remains undecided whether to recall experienced halfback Will Genia to steer Australia through a tricky clash with Argentina on Sunday.

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Genia was one of the few bright lights for the Wallabies in their 20-point defeat to the Springboks at the weekend, coming off the bench in the second half and re-generating fluent gold attack that stressed the home team.

But McKenzie isn't ready to ditch newly promoted No.9 Nic White just yet.

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Not unlike the Wallabies' jumbled gameplans this year, McKenzie is undecided whether to deploy White for a kicking-based strategy against the Pumas or bring Genia back to play a running style in Rosario.

"You saw two halves of footy (in Cape Town)," McKenzie said.

"You saw a kicking half and a running half. Clearly if we are playing running footy Will is our best exponent, if it's a kicking game then Whitey is our best exponent of that. It depends on how you want to pitch the game."

McKenzie said White was one of the best pure kickers he'd seen, but the effect of pressure via his boot was undone by sloppy catching of the return Bok high-balls.

The fact that the Wallabies looked twice-as-good in the second half with Genia running, and feeding runners around the corner, was not lost on McKenzie. Nor the fact the kicking strategy in the first half coincided with a 20-point Springbok surge.

But overall, the coach said the core of the Wallabies' problems was the inability to adapt to the game and mix both styles in attack.

"We looked more comfortable running the ball in the second half, so I am conscious the reality of what you're going to be doing, you want to be mixing it up. If you have some variety in your game it's hard for the opposition to know what you're doing," McKenzie said.

"In terms of how we play, we're not getting the balance between the running and kicking side.

"The middle ground is where you feel the game and you feel relaxed enough to make the decisions you normally make.

"I think at the moment because confidence is low and we're under pressure, guys are worried about making mistakes. We are taking that millisecond to think when they normally wouldn't.

"That's where we're coming up with errors. Errors where we have been conservative when we need to take risks, and vice-versa.

"I will try and free up their minds and help with confidence a bit."

Confidence must be found fast, with the Pumas proving they'll be a tough opponent in their game against the All Blacks in La Plata.

Argentina led at the 60-minute mark with bold attack, and in particular, a beast of a scrum that dominated the Kiwis.

"It doesn't surprise me. The Latin way, scrummaging is a very personal affair, there is a lot of prestige and pride that goes with that," McKenzie said.

"They are on home turf, and they always play brilliantly at home. There's not one team in the world who will say going and playing in Argentina is an easy task."

The Pumas gave Australia plenty of trouble at scrum-time in Perth but McKenzie believes the pack performed well against the Boks.

"Our scrum improved on the weekend, and we will continue to work on it. We handled it better technically. It was probably our best effort technically. There is some progress there," he said.

McKenzie demurred on whether Benn Robinson would be considered for a starting berth after a strong return, but he praised Ben McCalman's impact as a reserve loose forward. The abrasive Force flanker could be summoned to help handle the passionate Puma forwards.

"You have to start with the extreme physicality and emotion of theirs, you have to be able to deal with that," McKenzie said.

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