WHEN JOE SCHMIDT got the Wallabies job some of his new players were curious about what they could expect. In Mack Hansen, they had someone in the know. Hansen played with the Brumbies in Canberra before joining Connacht in 2021, and while he never played under Schmidt himself, he would have heard the stories when he came into Ireland camp in 2022.
You know the ones. Players panicking about knowing their detail or feeling anxious about video review sessions. Andrew Porter counting the bumps on the Carton House driveway as he felt the tension rise inside him.
In the latter years of Schmidt tenure, Ireland camp was hard and tough. Australia were braced for change when he arrived.
“I don’t think it was a shock (to get used to Schmidt’s methods),” says fullback Tom Wright. “A lot of you guys are familiar with Mack Hansen, he might have tipped a couple of us Brumbies guys up to the style of coach that Joe was.”
“He didn’t go full throttle at the start, I’ll be honest,” says Wright.
He used to sort of apologise in advance if he might have chipped a guy here or there at training, but now he doesn’t apologize, you just know he’s absolutely keeping you accountable for the best of the team.”
That is not to say Schmidt has lost any of his intensity around the training pitch. Wright adds that Schmidt’s eye for detail and high workrate was “something that a lot of us were craving” after a challenging few years for Australian Rugby, which culminated in the disaster that was the Eddie Jones era.
Under Schmidt, the Wallabies have started to find their feet again. The Rugby Championship brought some bruising days out but this November tour has sparked fresh promise. Australia were brilliant in beating England at Twickenham and backed that up with a strong performance against Warren Gatland’s sinking Welsh. A November Grand Slam was on the cards before the wheels came off in an oddly flat defeat to Scotland on Sunday.
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“I could scratch around and fluff an answer for you, but we just weren’t good enough,” says Wright.
Tom Wright and James Slipper speaking to the media in Dublin yesterday. Laszlo Geczo / INPHO
Laszlo Geczo / INPHO / INPHO
“We had a look in the mirror and just touched around the fundamentals of our game in and around the handling, the breakdown, how quick we can arrive to support the ball-carrier, all that sort of stuff.”
The sort of stuff Schmidt drills into his players on a daily basis. It will be fascinating to see what he’s kept up his sleeve for this weekend. The former Ireland boss is still a master at decoding defences and will have spotted areas where his team can hurt Andy Farrell’s side.
Tomorrow’s game in Dublin will be Australia’s 13th under Schmidt and Wright feels the pieces are starting to fall into place. He points to the fact this is a young Wallabies squad, with out-half Tane Edmed in line to become their 19th debutant of the year.
“I think he was absolutely the right man for the job. We’re really pleased with how the first eight months of his tenure has gone,” Wright says of Schmidt.
“I really feel that the team performance has grown, which has allowed individuals to showcase what they can bring to a team sport.
“The discipline he’s brought to the team in the way that we want to play the game, the way that we prepare for games, we’re starting to see a lot of the fruits of that. Guys coming into the Test season, in and around that 10 to 15 test mark, going through a 15 Test season and now creeping into the 30 Test (mark), starting to become that more mature player. (Players are) starting to really find their feet under the desk.
“We’ve had a number of debutants throughout the season. That could have gone one or two ways. It’s quite an open group but he’s really brought us really, really close together, in particular on the northern tour.”
Wallabies head coach Joe Schmidt. Laszlo Geczo / INPHO
Laszlo Geczo / INPHO / INPHO
“I think the proof is in the pudding at the moment, from where we came from last year in particular,” adds loosehead prop James Slipper, who will collect cap number 143 in Dublin.
“That was a pretty tough year for us. The growth in the team and in the squad in general has been astronomical. We have missed a few games and close results but overall our trajectory has been on the upward trend. Joe is definitely our man and I can confidently say most of the rugby public home are very confident that he is the man to take us forward.”
When these teams last met two years ago a Ross Byrne penalty was all that separated them. A year later, the Wallabies were losing by 36 points to Wales as they failed to get out of their World Cup pool.
“In 2022 we lost to Ireland by one point or something like that in the Aviva and then last year we probably weren’t on the same playing field as Ireland,” says Slipper.
“Its chalk and cheese really. I’m never worried about where this game is in Australia. It can definitely be better and that’s what we’re striving to do. We’ve started that shift and it is up to us as a wider squad to keep improving and finding those performances.”
The signs under Schmidt are promising. The Wallabies would have been well aware of Schmidt’s work in Ireland but have still struck by his popularity here.
“He’s been pretty excited for this week, hasn’t he, old Joe?” adds Slipper.
“Joe is like a superstar here, wherever we go. The one thing I’ve noticed is he gets a lot of support. There’s a genuine love for the man in Ireland and it goes to show what sort of coach and what sort of person he is. So it’s going to be a special game for all of us involved and especially the Irish boys as well. This one might be a little bit more special.”
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'He didn't go full throttle at the start' - Wallabies getting up to speed with Schmidt
WHEN JOE SCHMIDT got the Wallabies job some of his new players were curious about what they could expect. In Mack Hansen, they had someone in the know. Hansen played with the Brumbies in Canberra before joining Connacht in 2021, and while he never played under Schmidt himself, he would have heard the stories when he came into Ireland camp in 2022.
You know the ones. Players panicking about knowing their detail or feeling anxious about video review sessions. Andrew Porter counting the bumps on the Carton House driveway as he felt the tension rise inside him.
In the latter years of Schmidt tenure, Ireland camp was hard and tough. Australia were braced for change when he arrived.
“I don’t think it was a shock (to get used to Schmidt’s methods),” says fullback Tom Wright. “A lot of you guys are familiar with Mack Hansen, he might have tipped a couple of us Brumbies guys up to the style of coach that Joe was.”
Joe was. The stories go that these Wallabies are seeing a different side of Schmidt, who cut a notably relaxed figure as he did press in Dublin yesterday.
“He didn’t go full throttle at the start, I’ll be honest,” says Wright.
That is not to say Schmidt has lost any of his intensity around the training pitch. Wright adds that Schmidt’s eye for detail and high workrate was “something that a lot of us were craving” after a challenging few years for Australian Rugby, which culminated in the disaster that was the Eddie Jones era.
Under Schmidt, the Wallabies have started to find their feet again. The Rugby Championship brought some bruising days out but this November tour has sparked fresh promise. Australia were brilliant in beating England at Twickenham and backed that up with a strong performance against Warren Gatland’s sinking Welsh. A November Grand Slam was on the cards before the wheels came off in an oddly flat defeat to Scotland on Sunday.
“I could scratch around and fluff an answer for you, but we just weren’t good enough,” says Wright.
“We had a look in the mirror and just touched around the fundamentals of our game in and around the handling, the breakdown, how quick we can arrive to support the ball-carrier, all that sort of stuff.”
The sort of stuff Schmidt drills into his players on a daily basis. It will be fascinating to see what he’s kept up his sleeve for this weekend. The former Ireland boss is still a master at decoding defences and will have spotted areas where his team can hurt Andy Farrell’s side.
Tomorrow’s game in Dublin will be Australia’s 13th under Schmidt and Wright feels the pieces are starting to fall into place. He points to the fact this is a young Wallabies squad, with out-half Tane Edmed in line to become their 19th debutant of the year.
“I think he was absolutely the right man for the job. We’re really pleased with how the first eight months of his tenure has gone,” Wright says of Schmidt.
“I really feel that the team performance has grown, which has allowed individuals to showcase what they can bring to a team sport.
“The discipline he’s brought to the team in the way that we want to play the game, the way that we prepare for games, we’re starting to see a lot of the fruits of that. Guys coming into the Test season, in and around that 10 to 15 test mark, going through a 15 Test season and now creeping into the 30 Test (mark), starting to become that more mature player. (Players are) starting to really find their feet under the desk.
“We’ve had a number of debutants throughout the season. That could have gone one or two ways. It’s quite an open group but he’s really brought us really, really close together, in particular on the northern tour.”
“I think the proof is in the pudding at the moment, from where we came from last year in particular,” adds loosehead prop James Slipper, who will collect cap number 143 in Dublin.
“That was a pretty tough year for us. The growth in the team and in the squad in general has been astronomical. We have missed a few games and close results but overall our trajectory has been on the upward trend. Joe is definitely our man and I can confidently say most of the rugby public home are very confident that he is the man to take us forward.”
When these teams last met two years ago a Ross Byrne penalty was all that separated them. A year later, the Wallabies were losing by 36 points to Wales as they failed to get out of their World Cup pool.
“In 2022 we lost to Ireland by one point or something like that in the Aviva and then last year we probably weren’t on the same playing field as Ireland,” says Slipper.
“Its chalk and cheese really. I’m never worried about where this game is in Australia. It can definitely be better and that’s what we’re striving to do. We’ve started that shift and it is up to us as a wider squad to keep improving and finding those performances.”
The signs under Schmidt are promising. The Wallabies would have been well aware of Schmidt’s work in Ireland but have still struck by his popularity here.
“He’s been pretty excited for this week, hasn’t he, old Joe?” adds Slipper.
“Joe is like a superstar here, wherever we go. The one thing I’ve noticed is he gets a lot of support. There’s a genuine love for the man in Ireland and it goes to show what sort of coach and what sort of person he is. So it’s going to be a special game for all of us involved and especially the Irish boys as well. This one might be a little bit more special.”
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Joe Schmidt Progress Rugby Australia Wallabies