Here are the latest rugby headlines on Friday, November 25.
Australia boss feels for Pivac and coaches
Australia coach Dave Rennie says he feels for Wales boss Wayne Pivac and forwards guru Jonathan Humphreys as pressure mounts on the Welsh set-up to secure a win this weekend.
Wales' shock defeat to Georgia last time out, having also lost to Italy in the same calendar year, has piled the pressure on the coaching group just 10 months out from a World Cup.
READ MORE: Pivac comes out fighting as he addresses his critics
Speaking after naming his Wallabies side, where he made seven changes, Rennie said: "I know Wayne well. I also coached with John Humphreys at Glasgow. So, look, really good men.
"I mean, this is the business we’re in. It’s results-driven and if you don’t get results you come under pressure. I’m sure they understand that. I understand that. So yeah, I feel for them. It’s not easy.
“We definitely expect a response from Wales. They will be hurting, similar to what we were a couple of weeks ago. We’re very disappointed to come second in Dublin. We’ve got a bit of a point to prove.
“They’ll kick a fair bit. A lot of contestable from nine and 10. We need to be able to deal with that part of the game. It does give you opportunity if we can. It’s a war of attrition up here. We think territory is going to be important and we need to have a quality kicking game as well.”
Tipuric: 'Boys are hurting'
Wales captain Justin Tipuric says the defeat to Georgia is a performance he and his team-mates won't forget.
He will line up in a Wales back-row alongside Taulupe Faletau and Jac Morgan this Saturday when Wales bid to right the wrongs from last weekend.
"You can see boys are hurting, especially the first couple of days, and the big job is to change that focus to Australia," the skipper said. "There are many sleepless nights, we don’t go out there to play badly, we all love playing for our country and play well, it was one of those performances that you’re never going to forget unfortunately.
“I’m not on social media. As a player my job is to perform on the field and try to make sure as captain we focus on the main goal, winning rugby games, and trying to build a team as we do it.
“It has been in the last year about the consistency to be contenders for the World Cup, you have to have that consistency to be up there with the best teams in the world and unfortunately we haven’t nailed that at the moment. We’ve got a lot to work on as individuals and as a team."
Asked if there is also a responsibility to the coach, Tipuric said: "Of course, our job is to perform out there and come away with a win, you never take it for granted when you have the opportunity to play for Wales. We want to go out there and give people entertainment value and make sure we have a W.”
Pivac to embark on World Cup planning mission after Australia finale
Wayne Pivac will travel to France on Sunday for a World Cup reconnaissance mission as speculation continues to rage about his future in the job.
Whether Pivac stays in charge beyond the Autumn Nations Series, which Wales conclude against Australia on Saturday, remains to be seen.
Heading into the Wallabies clash, Wales have won just three Tests from 11 starts this year under his direction.
However, Pivac will visit Wales' four World Cup pool stage venues - Bordeaux, Nice, Lyon and Nantes - and a potential quarter-final base of Marseille, with their tournament opener against Fiji just 10 months away.
But there are many in Wales who feel that whatever happens this weekend, his time might be up just three years after succeeding his fellow New Zealander Warren Gatland.
"There is always the big picture in the background," Pivac said. "Things go on for World Cup planning in the background. We are off to France on Sunday. Nothing changes in that respect."
Asked if he felt his players were still performing for him, Pivac said: "It is a good question. We are always mindful of body language.
"We look at things which are very important. If I felt that was the case, then it would be a discussion to have, but the reaction of the players this week has been nothing but faultless, really.
"We've got to roll our sleeves up and go again, and that has certainly been the attitude of the players to my knowledge in terms of the training sessions and the team meetings we are a part of.
"I am under pressure every week, and that is self-imposed pressure for the team to do well. This week has been a classic week of backs to the wall, and we want to rectify last week's performance. To a player, they rolled their sleeves up and got stuck in.
Peel talks up Wainwright signing
Scarlets boss Dwayne Peel believes Wales prop Sam Wainwright will be a good fit for the Welsh side after signing from Saracens.
The transfer was announced last week with immediate effect. Wainwright has made 20 appearances for the London-based club and has gone on to receive four Wales caps, featuring during the summer tour of South Africa, where Wales lost the Test series 2-1 to the Springboks.
He has now signed for the Scarlets for the remainder of the season, but there is scope for a longer contract for the 24-year-old.
Speaking from South Africa where the Scarlets are preparing to face the Stormers on Friday night, Peel said: "He's shown great potential, especially on tour in the summer. From speaking to him, he is very diligent, very astute player. He wants to learn and work.
"I think he'll be a good fit in the environment: a young player who wants to grow. We thought it was a good opportunity until the end of the season to see how he fits in here."
This autumn, Wainwright has featured for Wales as a replacement against Argentina and Georgia but has been omitted from the matchday 23 to face Australia on Saturday.
Eddie Jones insists rugby should look after referees
Eddie Jones says rugby has a duty to look after referees as South Africa boss Rassie Erasmus is forced to miss another clash with England at Twickenham for disciplinary reasons.
For the second successive year, Erasmus is prohibited from entering the stadium due to a two-game matchday ban imposed for publishing a series of sarcastic tweets criticising officials during the Autumn Nations Series.
Wayne Barnes, who oversaw South Africa's defeat by France on November 12, received abuse on social media as a result of Erasmus' comments. Springboks director of rugby Erasmus had only just served a one-year suspension for releasing a video critiquing Australian referee Nic Berry during last year's Lions tour.
While stopping short of condemning Erasmus' conduct, Jones states that officials must be treated with respect. "I'm not perfect," the Australian said. "I've said things that probably haven't been right but the longer I've coached the more I accept we've got to look after the referees.
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"I remember back in 2007 I got fined 10,000 for criticising a referee. In Queensland that's a lot of money and I had to pay it myself because the union didn't pay it for me. Since then I have accepted the fact we shouldn't speak about referees so I've got a blanket rule that I don't speak about referees - I try not to - and I don't speak about coaches who speak about referees.
"To me it's simple. There's the game, play the game, the referee's in charge, if he makes mistakes let's accept it, because that's our game. If we want to have a contest game referees are going to make mistakes. If we don't want a contest let's play basketball. Let's not have any contest and call it basketball. Or we play Aussie Rules or Football."
Jones questions whether Erasmus' repeated criticism of referees is designed to create a siege mentality as South Africa close in on the defence of the World Cup they won by toppling England in 2019.
"Whenever you've won something, you need to find the motivation to do it again and maybe this is a clever way to find motivation," Jones said.
READ NEXT:
Gwyn Jones: Wayne Pivac now in no-win situation and his fate may have already been sealed
Graham Price: Wayne Pivac must go and take the rest of his sorry coaching crew with him
Jamie Roberts calls for change now 'seminal moment' has arrived
