The Wallabies lost an enthralling clash 29-25 to Wales in Tokyo last Sunday, having also suffered a scare in their opening win over Fiji.
First-half sin-bins for high tackles by Adam Coleman and Lukhan Salakaia-Loto contributed to another slow start before they cut loose in Oita.
“I thought we were just a little bit off the pace at the start and that’s three times now,” Cheika said.
“I’ll have to get my prematch speech a little bit better. We were reading the first half nicely but it looked like we were a click away. And then we got the pace up in the second half.”
Teenage wing Jordan Petaia was among the scorers with a try on his debut.
Dane Haylett-Petty and Tevita Kuridrani also crossed in the first half and Kuridrani added his second after the break to make sure Australia earned a bonus point.
This story is from the October 06, 2019 edition of The Rugby Paper.
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This story is from the October 06, 2019 edition of The Rugby Paper.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
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