Shivering Wallabies called on to strike it hot

EDINBURGH - Among his yelling and screaming at the Wallabies this week, coach Eddie Jones took breath to tell them to strike quickly and often when they bid to get their tour back on track against Scotland tomorrow.

Jones wants Australia to play hot rugby in Glasgow, but with a forecast maximum temperature of between minus one and plus three with the chance of snow at Hampden Park, the biggest threat to the Wallabies' plans could be frostbite rather than Scotland's defence.

Jones said the Wallabies forgot their game plan last week in the 27-14 loss to France and it was vital that they were assertive, decisive and scored in early phases against the Scots.

"Seventy per cent of tries are scored in the first three phases in top 10 test matches and to do that you've got to strike when using the ball."

He was frustrated last week when his players didn't strike with the ball and was keen to see more of the four brilliant tries produced in the 31-14 first test win against Scotland a fortnight ago. "We've got to be more responsible on the field and we've got to follow things through on the field," he said.

Another theme of Jones' week has been a lot of yelling and screaming at training.

According to the players, there wasn't anyone on the field at Stade de France doing enough yelling or screaming to steer them back towards their plan, including captain George Gregan.

"We weren't assertive enough. You've got to make your mark in terms of decision-making on the field," Jones said.

"I think the players acknowledged there wasn't someone there saying, 'We're doing the wrong thing', we just kept on going with the flow of the game."

Although it sounded like criticism of Gregan's captaincy, Jones defended the halfback's onfield leadership. "It's called the pressure of the game."

Jones also wants to rectify the Wallabies' worrying pattern of staying in their shell when under pressure and waiting until the game was lost to start throwing the ball around. This is exactly what they did against France last week and in Durban in the loss to South Africa in August.

"The worst thing you can do is try to win a game when it's lost," Jones said.

"We've got to do it right from the word go and follow it through.

"The proof will be in the pudding on Saturday.

"The way the players have responded has been excellent, the leadership has been excellent, so all the signs are there now."

Jones made one injury-enforced change to last week's starting lineup, with David Lyons replacing John Roe at No 8.

Scotland are unchanged from last week's confidence-boosting 100-8 thrashing of Japan.

Scotland coach Matt Williams said: "There is no comparison between the opposition, but you still have to do a lot of positive things to score 100 points."

He expected the Wallabies to repeat the intensity of the French match.

* Glasgow, tomorrow 3.45am

- AAP