CARDIFF, Wales (AP) — Australia has beaten Wales 13 straight times.
But the Wallabies are more concerned with Wales' streak.
Six straight wins against allcomers.
"If you are thinking about times previously in games, you are thinking about the wrong thing," captain Michael Hooper said on Friday, the day before his Wallabies meet Wales in Cardiff.
"If you are doing that, you are probably not in the moment. We have got to be thinking in the moment. (Wales) are a quality team, and it is going to be a real challenge."
Australia's inconsistency this year — seven losses in 10 tests — sees it go into this contest not as the favorite, which doesn't bother coach Michael Cheika.
"We don't mind running as an underdog, don't worry about us," he said. "We will enjoy that status, not that I am a gambling man. We have massive respect for Wales. But we need to focus on ourselves.
"For us, it is all about looking in the mirror. Some of the pain and hurt we have felt this year will only help us. I can see people inside the team starting to change things because they do not want to feel that pain again."
The Wallabies gave Cheika his maiden test win in 2014 at Wales' expense when they came from behind in the last eight minutes with a Bernard Foley dropped goal and penalty to win by five. The three matches since then, including a 2015 Rugby World Cup pool game, have been cut and dried.
Wales captain Alun Wyn Jones was the only survivor in either side from the last time it beat Australia, in 2008, and he wasn't in the mood to reminisce after the captain's run.
"If you go looking too far back, you can get lost searching for answers," Jones said. "This is all about the 80 minutes on Saturday, and that is what we are focusing on."
Particularly a good start.
"If they get an early score, then you need to chase the game. Especially against a team like Australia, who have that counterattacking ability, you just don't want to get in a hole against them early on. In international rugby you can't get that back, so we need to be switched on and start well."
___
More AP sports: https://apnews.com/apf-sports and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports
