Wallabies coach Joe Schmidt says his side must avoid their “kryptonite” if they’re to be any chance of knocking off the British & Irish Lions, while giving hope to a wide net of Australian players, by indicating that he could yet blood a “bolter” in the hugely anticipated series later this year.
Schmidt sat down with Australian media in Sydney on Monday, his first solo appearance in front of a broader contingent for the year, giving both a lot – and very little — away at the same time, such is his considered approach after a decade spent coaching at the elite level.
The Kiwi reinforced that no single player, be they heading, or already based, offshore, had been ruled ineligible to face the Lions, giving hope to the likes of Will Skelton, Samu Kerevi and Marika Koroibete, while Schmidt also singled out several uncapped individuals who had caught his eye across this year’s Super Rugby season, including Waratahs No. 7 Charlie Gamble.
But it was his reflection on 2024 that perhaps proved most revealing, after Schmidt kept a low profile since the Wallabies wrapped up last year’s campaign in a narrow loss to Ireland. That was because he did not want to influence the search to find his replacement, which has since been confirmed to be Les Kiss, but only after Schmidt himself agreed to a second extension that takes him through to the middle of next year.
“There [are] a few things,” Schmidt replied when asked about the Wallabies biggest improvement from 2024. “We felt that we got a better understanding of how we wanted to play and the responsibility that we had to deliver some of those performance behaviours on the field, and the manner that we looked after the ball or the manner that we got our defensive line set, our chase line connected.
“There was a myriad of things that we really felt when we broke down [the season] … we could see that there were things that we really had to target, that we had to get better at. So set-piece is always one of them… one of the biggest improvements was consistency of the set-piece and those kind of connection pieces that are important.”
After starting the season with a 3-0 sweep of their July series – albeit against Wales and Georgia who were both ranked below them – the Wallabies could only win one Rugby Championship game, away in Argentina, and were otherwise comprehensively beaten in all but the first Bledisloe Test with the All Blacks.
But there were signs that things were gradually falling into place, too, leading to the upset win over England at Twickenham to start the spring tour, and then a complete dismantling of Wales in Cardiff.
One week later their grand slam hopes were ended by Scotland, before Australia then built a halftime lead over Schmidt’s old side, Ireland, in Dublin. Sadly for the Wallabies, they found themselves stuck in their own half for much of the second 40 – Schmidt’s men learning one harsh lesson as they saw their hopes of victory gradually slip away.
“Probably the biggest work on is probably consistency throughout the game. One of my biggest disappointments probably with the Irish game, you’re 13-5 up at halftime and we all make a commitment that we’re going to keep playing. We’re going out to win the second half.
“And then I kind of felt like we tried to defend the lead, and defending a lead against a team that are as efficient, and they weren’t as efficient as they had been, in Ireland but they’re still efficient enough that if they get near the 22 enough times and they get platforms of five-metre lineouts, and those sort of things, that becomes our kryptonite.
“We’re very, very sapped trying to defend those things successively when they accumulate. So for us, just committing to what we’re doing will be really important.
“I don’t think that we can come out against the Lions and say, right, let’s try to shut the game down. They have power, skill, they have speed. So they can play in a number of ways and whatever way they play, we’re going to have to try to play our game.”
Looking ahead to the Lions series, Schmidt said that he was working towards an original squad of around 38 players that would gather to prepare for the Test with Fiji a fortnight earlier, and that would be named once the Super Rugby season is over for all Australian teams.
Ideally, Schmidt would love to see either the Brumbies or Reds, or both, go all the way to the final day of the season, while the Waratahs and Force remain in a scrap for the last couple of spots in the playoffs.
It’s likely that squad would then be reduced by a few players after the Fiji Test, while there could be a situation where a player is given one last opportunity to impress as part of the Australia-New Zealand Invitational squad that will face the Lions a week later.
Schmidt will also release players who are perceived not to be in the Wallabies’ 23 at the start of the Lions tour in late June to their Super franchises to face the tourists; affording potentially 15 players another opportunity to shift his thinking for the first Test in Brisbane.
And he does not want the Waratahs to wrap Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii in cotton wool if NSW slip a further game adrift on the ladder with a loss to the Crusaders on Friday, a result that would officially end their playoff hopes, with the star code-hopper already ruled out of the trans-Tasman clash with concussion.
Schmidt also confirmed Waratahs coach Dan McKellar had asked Schmidt if he wanted him to play Suaalii in midfield, where it is expected he will line up against the Lions with the Wallabies.
“I think that he’s missed a few games already this season. He hasn’t had that many games anyway. So, for Joseph, I think it’s important that he just keeps playing when he’s fit and available to play,” Schmidt said.
“I think he probably will miss this game against the Crusaders, but all going well. He’ll hopefully be back for the next one… I’m really happy that Joseph plays wherever Dan needs him to play. Dan and I have had the conversation, and Dan actually asked me, ‘do you want me to play him at 13?’ And I said, ‘I just want him with his boots on playing the game’.
“I think one of the beauties of playing 15 is you see the whole game in front of you, and so for Joseph, he’s had that opportunity. But then, they don’t use him like a normal 15 either. He comes into the front line on some set plays, and ends up in the front line on occasions, the try against the Brumbies, where 15s don’t usually take flat balls off lineouts, and things like that.
“So, yeah, for Joseph, it’s just great to see him out there and playing. I thought he was going really well until he got that knock in Friday’s game. But he’s okay, and that’s a main thing going forward.”
Source: espn.com