This article is more than 3 years old

This article is more than 3 years old

Wallabies five-eighth Bernard Foley insists the tough times endured by Australia this year have laid the foundation for future success.



Australia won six of 15 Tests in 2016, with most of the Wallabies returning home on Tuesday from the tour of Europe, where they beat Wales, Scotland and France but lost to Ireland and England.



Wallabies end 2016 on a low note but positives emerge from European tour | John Davidson Read more

Coach Michael Cheika opted to spend a couple of extra days overseas and is expected to return later this week.



Foley was the only man to start all of Australia’s 2016 Tests and the introduction of over a dozen debutants this year had him upbeat about Australia’s future despite their unflattering win-loss record.

They endured a six-match losing streak, starting with the 2015 World Cup final and their 2016 log included four defeats by England and three to New Zealand.



“I think we’ve got a lot of optimism, you see how far this team has come,” Foley said at Sydney Airport. “So many of the young guys got to debut this year and that’s a great milestone.

“There was a lot of optimism when we first got together this year and realistically we were shut down pretty quickly and so we had to rebuild and face the challenges.



“Out of those tough times and that adversity a lot of guys stood up and that’s where I think the optimism and the potential going forward is. Those tough times have put us in a really good position for future success.”