KEY POINTS:
MONTPELLIER - Dynamic fullback Chris Latham will resist moves to rest him from Australia's final World Cup group rugby match against Canada as he seeks more games to fully recapture form after a knee reconstruction.
Latham has been one of the standouts in Australia's unbeaten start to the World Cup and was named man-of-the-match with two tries in the 32-20 win over Wales in Cardiff last weekend.
Coach John Connolly has indicated that he plans to rest Latham along with other key Wallabies for the final group outing with the Canadians in Bordeaux next weekend to save them for the looming crunch knockout games.
But the news of his impending sidelining has not been welcomed by Latham, who has scored 39 tries in 75 tests.
"I might have a coffee with Knuckles (Connolly)," Latham said here ahead of Monday's (NZT) next pool B match against Fiji in Montpellier.
"Obviously, there needs to be some rest period time leading into the quarters and semis, but for me I feel very confident with the more games I play the better I'm going to get, especially with the amount of limited time I've had on the field," he said.
It has been an exceptional comeback by the 32-year-old fullback, who only played half a test match against New Zealand in July leading into the World Cup after spending the Super 14 season out with a serious knee injury.
"I'm starting to get a lot more confident within the way I'm playing and I'm a lot more confident in my game fitness and knowing that I can get through the full 80 minutes," he said.
"I'll have a coffee with him (Connolly) ... obviously he's got the big stick at the end of the day, but yeah, we'll have to wait and see."
Asked about his record of winning arguments with the coach, Latham smiled: "Not too good since I got injured (knee) at training (in February)."
Latham's injury triggered a furious row between Connolly and Queensland coach Eddie Jones after the fullback was forced to miss all the Super 14 season with the injury picked up during pre-season training.
"Halfway through the year it was a bit of a rollercoaster ride where I was positive one day and the next day I was down kicking cans thinking I wasn't going to make it," Latham said.
"So to be here and to playing is one thing and I'm just happy the team is going well and building into performances.
"I'm pretty happy with my game. I'm making some small mistakes here and there, but I think I'm looking more at my instinctive play and that's what I am happy with.
"But there's still some errors that are popping up in my game that I want to get rid of before the bigger games.
"The momentum is definitely building in the team. Although some aspects of our play last weekend we probably took our foot off a little bit, but overall we are building a good momentum.
"It's quite interesting to see the opinions of so-called experts changing their minds on us now, so wait and see, we're still a way off playing our best rugby."
- AFP
