The captain Stirling Mortlock is confident that Australia's tour to Hong Kong and Europe will be the catalyst for greater improvement heading towards the 2011 World Cup.
Australia finished the six-match trip with four wins (against Italy, England, France and the Barbarians) and two losses (to New Zealand and Wales) while blooding several new faces.
Mortlock believes his squad is on the right track three years away from the World Cup in New Zealand after several years of under-achievement.
"You'd always love to go away and come back undefeated but having said that the growth and development of guys on tour was outstanding," he said.
"There's been growth across the board. The set piece has been good, the skill level has improved and with that the belief and confidence is coming. It's a beginning - there's a lot more growth in us and that's the exciting part.
"We've got to continue in the direction that we're heading.
"I would say we are fully aware we've got a lot of improvement left in us and we're excited about the opportunity the next year or two has in store for us."
Mortlock lauded the impact of Robbie Deans, who became the first foreign coach of the Wallabies in June. "He's brought a lot of enthusiasm, a lot of positivity and a lot of belief and that's flowed directly into the team," said the centre.
"He is as excited as the group is about where we're looking to head in the future.
"Now we can put our feet up knowing full well that we've put in a decent year. It's a great start but we're excited to where we're going to go to next year."
* PA Sport
Director: Paul Weitz
Stars: Kevin Hart
3/5 stars
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
The biog
Favourite book: Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi
Favourite holiday destination: Spain
Favourite film: Bohemian Rhapsody
Favourite place to visit in the UAE: The beach or Satwa
Children: Stepdaughter Tyler 27, daughter Quito 22 and son Dali 19
Premier League results
Saturday
Crystal Palace 1 Brighton & Hove Albion 2
Cardiff City 2 West Ham United 0
Huddersfield Town 0 Bournemouth 2
Leicester City 3 Fulham 1
Newcastle United 3 Everton 2
Southampton 2 Tottenham Hotspur 1
Manchester City 3 Watford 1
Sunday
Liverpool 4 Burnley 2
Chelsea 1 Wolverhampton Wanderers 1
Arsenal 2 Manchester United 0
Will the pound fall to parity with the dollar?
The idea of pound parity now seems less far-fetched as the risk grows that Britain may split away from the European Union without a deal.
Rupert Harrison, a fund manager at BlackRock, sees the risk of it falling to trade level with the dollar on a no-deal Brexit. The view echoes Morgan Stanley’s recent forecast that the currency can plunge toward $1 (Dh3.67) on such an outcome. That isn’t the majority view yet – a Bloomberg survey this month estimated the pound will slide to $1.10 should the UK exit the bloc without an agreement.
New Prime Minister Boris Johnson has repeatedly said that Britain will leave the EU on the October 31 deadline with or without an agreement, fuelling concern the nation is headed for a disorderly departure and fanning pessimism toward the pound. Sterling has fallen more than 7 per cent in the past three months, the worst performance among major developed-market currencies.
“The pound is at a much lower level now but I still think a no-deal exit would lead to significant volatility and we could be testing parity on a really bad outcome,” said Mr Harrison, who manages more than $10 billion in assets at BlackRock. “We will see this game of chicken continue through August and that’s likely negative for sterling,” he said about the deadlocked Brexit talks.
The pound fell 0.8 per cent to $1.2033 on Friday, its weakest closing level since the 1980s, after a report on the second quarter showed the UK economy shrank for the first time in six years. The data means it is likely the Bank of England will cut interest rates, according to Mizuho Bank.
The BOE said in November that the currency could fall even below $1 in an analysis on possible worst-case Brexit scenarios. Options-based calculations showed around a 6.4 per cent chance of pound-dollar parity in the next one year, markedly higher than 0.2 per cent in early March when prospects of a no-deal outcome were seemingly off the table.
Bloomberg
