Lealiifano wants smart answers for McKenzie

The Wallabies slumped to an embarrassing 38-12 loss to South Africa last weekend, prompting new coach McKenzie to consider overhauling his attacking tactics by adopting a "simple" plan.

The Wallabies have failed to land an attacking blow in a disastrous start to McKenzie's tenure. But inside centre Lealiifano urged McKenzie to persist with the high-tempo running rugby and said the onus was on the players to prove they could play a "smarter game" against Argentina in Perth on Saturday night.

"Some people will say dumbing down and being smarter is the same thing," Lealiifano said. "But I don't think we need to dumb it down; it's more about playing a smarter game, making better decisions and executing.

"We're not executing under pressure and that's putting us under more pressure. We need to be smarter about what we're doing. It's going to click for us."

McKenzie is still searching for his first win as Wallabies coach after taking over from Robbie Deans in July.

ARU chief executive Bill Pulver said McKenzie was appointed ahead of ACT Brumbies and World Cup-winning coach Jake White because of his vision to "play the Australian way", a reference to playing attractive rugby.

So far, the Wallabies have shown a willingness to attack but it hasn't delivered results. They have dominated territory and possession statistics in their games against New Zealand and South Africa, but have lost all three matches.

McKenzie injected Quade Cooper at five-eighth and Israel Folau at fullback to try to spark the Wallabies' attack against the Springboks.

But the Australian forwards were dominated in an error-riddled game and bench back-rower Ben McCalman said the Wallabies needed to "earn the right" to play with flair.

"We want to recognise playing an Australian brand of rugby [and being] expansive and scoring points," McCalman said. "But last weekend . . . we played too lateral before we took the ball forward.

"There are things we have to change but we don't want to change our style. We just have to earn the right to go wide."

The Wallabies have added NSW Waratahs trio Sitaleki Timani, Bernard Foley and Dave Dennis to bolster the squad in Perth.

The clash against Argentina will give Lealiifano, Brumbies captain Ben Mowen and code-hopper Folau a chance to get rid of an unwanted Test losing record. The trio made their Test debuts against the British and Irish Lions in June, and in their six Tests together they have won just one match.

Folau is expected to retain the No. 15 jersey to add X-factor at the back against the Pumas.

Lealiifano has played all his Tests at inside centre through a tumultuous period and is desperate to change his losing record.

"I've been trying to change my routine every week to see if something different will work," Lealiifano said. "Hopefully, the winning record starts to balance out . . . I'm definitely keen to get a win. It's just the way footy is at the moment. It's about how you bounce back from it and what you learn. I want to change that record around and we're putting everything into getting the win this week."

In six Tests, Lealiifano has played with three different five-eighths - James O'Connor, Matt Toomua and Cooper, who returned from a 12-month Wallabies exile in the loss to South Africa last weekend.

The controversial playmaker was not at his best in a game in which the Wallabies forwards failed to give the backs clean ball.

But McKenzie will likely give Cooper another chance to shine as he searches for the right mix for the new-generation Wallabies.