3 months ago
11
The last time Wallabies coach Joe Schmidt dealt with a major defeat in the Stade de France it was as a New Zealand assistant coach watching his side agonisingly beaten by South Africa by one point in the 2023 World Cup final.
Just over two years later, now as Wallabies head coach, Schmidt was dealing with another agonising loss in Paris of an entirely different nature.
Away from the cameras, France coach Fabien Galthie walked up to Schmidt with a wide smile after the two teams had combined for seven tries in Paris.
“Super rugby, super rugby,” Galthie said. Schmidt smiled back and replied, “bien fait”, which means well done. But the compliment will not have soothed the New Zealander much.
The Wallabies’ 15-point loss to France on Sunday (AEDT) was their fourth successive defeat on a spring tour that sits completely at odds with the progress made earlier this year, highlighted by memorable victories against the British and Irish Lions and South Africa.
A recurring theme of Schmidt’s tenure as Wallabies coach since his appointment in March 2024 has been building depth in the squad. Last year, 19 Wallabies made their debut under Schmidt. This year, he has handed debuts to five players, including halfback Kalani Thomas, who won his first cap against France, replacing Waratahs captain Jake Gordon.
Harry Potter of Australia catches a high ball Credit: Getty Images
Despite the new players, the squad’s lack of experience and depth was brutally exposed on the spring tour. Senior leaders, such as the most capped Wallaby James Slipper and veteran halfback Nic White, had also retired before the tour, depriving the team of some of the senior voices off the field they had often heard.
The loss of Tom Wright, Tate McDermott, Langi Gleeson, Tom Lynagh, Noah Lolesio and Will Skelton due to injury was significant. Not having Len Ikitau and Tom Hooper available to play England, due to the Test falling outside World Rugby’s three-week international window, was also costly.
Speaking after the loss to France, Schmidt said that lack of experience had been exposed.
“I love these guys; they are such a good group of young men, they want to do the best they can,” Schmidt said.
“I see promise in them, but you can’t suddenly make them experienced and see the game quite as well as you’d like them to see it sometimes, or to be quite as efficient or get the execution spot-on ...
Wallabies Joe Schmidt is determined to stay with the Wallabies until the end of his contract in JulyCredit: Getty Images
“I just feel sometimes as soon as we go behind, we start to get a little bit desperate, and we probably don’t as a team quite have the maturity to just manage those moments when we are under pressure.”
The mental and physical fatigue was noticeable throughout the spring tour. In each Test, the Wallabies were close on the scoreboard at half-time, but their second halves were consistently poor.
Against England, the Wallabies were three points down; against Italy, they were three points up; against Ireland, five points down; and against France, it was 19-19. In all four Tests, Australia then faltered in the second half. Schmidt said that he hadn’t experienced such a long season in his career.
“I know we’ll be fresher the next time we come out and play [in July],” Schmidt said.
“I’ve never done anything like that at all before, 15 Test matches in 22 weeks. The longest period I’ve been at home is six days since we first started in Newcastle.
“It is a very tough period of time where trying to stay mentally focused, physically attuned, it is tough, but you learn from that.”
The Wallabies will have a break over Christmas and come back in January for camp under Schmidt, who will be determined to improve on three major issues that cost the team in Europe.
Firstly, indiscipline was a consistent factor, with an average of 11 penalties conceded. In Paris, in the first half, they conceded three, and in the second half they had conceded 10.
The Wallabies also struggled under the high ball, although this was greatly improved against France. Similarly, the lineout, which had joined the scrum as a strength of the Wallabies against England and Italy, faltered spectacularly against Ireland.
The Wallabies’ lineout faltered against IrelandCredit: AP
Breakaway Fraser McReight was arguably the Wallabies’ best player on the spring tour and said that the weaknesses had been identified and the opportunity for revenge against Ireland, France and Italy in July in the new Nations Championship was already providing motivation.
“We didn’t get the results we wanted, obviously, but there was a lot of work put in and you can’t fault that,” McReight said.
“People don’t see how much effort goes in ...
“But we have an idea of where we want to go and what needs to be improved, and the best thing is, Joe [Schmidt] said it before, but the last three teams we played, we get to play them in July and on our turf, so we’re looking forward to that battle.”
Before the France Test, Rugby Australia chief executive Phil Waugh backed Schmidt to continue his tenure until July. Schmidt said he was happy to carry on as head coach of the Wallabies, but only if he was wanted.
“Unless somebody else can do a better job, I’m happy to step away,” he said. “I was only really going to be here until the end of the Lions and then six days later, we were assembling to fly to South Africa and I understood that it was very hard for someone to come in and suddenly take over at that stage.
Loading
“And then because of the very tight window before we even came away on tour, again, it’s very hard for someone suddenly to come in [to coach the Wallabies].
“And as I said before, I absolutely admire this group of young men who are trying really hard. So if there’s a sense that somebody else can come in and do a better job, that’s certainly not for me to say.
“I’ll just play golf a bit sooner, and I’ll be disappointed because I think these guys are working really hard, and I think they will continue to mature.”
Most Viewed in Sport
Loading
