True colours revealed as Rams NFL coach Sean McVay rips Melbourne game

Los Angeles coach Sean McVay hopes the Rams never have to play in Australia again after his team suffered a dismal loss to their bitter rivals in Melbourne.

The coach had stuck to the script during his team’s whirlwind tour Down Under, which culminated in a 27-7 loss to the San Francisco 49ers, insisting the team was “excited” and “looking forward” to last Friday’s clash.

But a week on, McVay revealed his true stance on the NFL deciding to host a game about 12,700km away from his hometown.

“Not because it wasn’t a great atmosphere. That will get taken out of context.”

McVay’s comments come after San Francisco coach Kyle Shanahan implied he also wouldn’t like to play in Australia again.

But the country will host more games in the future as the NFL has struck a multi-year deal with Victoria to play two matches with an option for a third.

It remains unclear whether the Rams will feature in the next edition, although the Seattle Seahawks, Las Vegas Raiders and Philadelphia Eagles are likely to take the field, as they share marketing rights with the Los Angeles club in Australia.

McVay’s side also made a last-ditch journey touching down in Melbourne about 24 hours before the match, unlike the 49ers who had been there all week interacting with fans and taking in the local atmosphere.

By game time, Los Angeles didn’t live up to their Super Bowl contender status at all, looking sluggish as they only scored one touchdown.

“I don’t believe that’s why we didn’t play well enough, I really don’t,” McVay said immediately after the loss last Friday.

“I will always make decisions that I think are best for the football team and it’s easy in hindsight to be able to say that it was a miss.

“But those are the responsibilities that I will take, and then you try to look at it.

“I’ll always look at myself inside out and figure out where I can try to improve.”

San Francisco were also the more popular team in front of the 100,021 spectators at the MCG, as the Rams were met with a mixed chorus of cheers and boos when they ran out.