Australian rugby players are starting to believe they are inferior to their trans‑Tasman counterparts according to respected analyst and former Wallaby Rod Kafer.
Although he supports calls to cut one of Australia's five Super Rugby teams, Kafer believes the country's disastrous record against New Zealand teams this season runs deeper than an overstretched player base.
Kafer says all the players hear is how far ahead the Kiwi teams are and eventually, as resistant as they try to be as a player, those things over time seep in, through the smallest cracks in a player's psyche.
Kafer adds they get the sense that the decline in performance, particularly against New Zealand sides, has unfortunately been consistent over the past three years.
In the Super Rugby, the Hurricanes will take on the Waratahs at 7.35pm Friday, the Highlanders play the Blues at 7.35pm Saturday while the Brumbies take on the Reds at 9.45pm Saturday. The Chiefs play the Stormers at 3.15am Sunday.
Source: Stuff.co
