Australian national rugby team head coach Joe Schmidt has unveiled a detailed plan. He is preparing to take the Wallabies into a daunting three-test series against the British and Irish Lions this July-August. Facing the world’s second-ranked team, Schmidt aims to enhance Australia’s standing in international rugby while prioritizing players committed to the future of Australian rugby.
Schmidt has made a personal commitment to stay with the team through July 2026, showing how committed he is to their growth. Upon his departure, Les Kiss takes over as head coach. Schmidt knows the challenge ahead with the division-leading Lions looming just on the horizon. He gives credit to the opposing team’s depth and experience of the powerful enemy army.
Focus on Competitive Edge
The Wallabies are riding high after significant recent successes. Schmidt seemed hopeful following their narrow defeat to Ireland and a last-minute match-winning try against England. He emphasized the importance of maintaining a competitive edge. “We are going against the second best team in the world, a team that will wash us out on paper with no problem at all,” lamented. Our goal is to continue to move up those rankings again this year by remaining competitive.”
To help with this, Schmidt has been holistically evaluating player performances. He noted how Harry Wilson came into his own towards the end of last season. More importantly, he highlighted the fact that many others shined when given the opportunity. “I felt Harry finished strongly, and I felt the others did a good job when they were in the breach,” Schmidt said. His process seems to be first establishing the group of players, and then whittling down the leadership and captaincy roles.
Captaincy Decisions
Players like Liam Wright, Allan Alaalatoa, James Slipper and Harry Wilson have all taken on shared captaincy roles more recently. As it stands, Schmidt is still in the dark as to who will captain the Wallabies against the Lions. He stated, “It’s a really good question, and it’s unfortunately one that I don’t have an answer for.”
While Schmidt’s selection process may be controversial, clarity on the intent of prioritising players committed to Australian rugby, whilst upholding the demand for competition is clear. “The clarity is that we’ll prioritize them, but clarity is that nobody is out of the mix,” he explained. This expansive, inclusive baseline premise opens the door for surprises as he intends to measure every emerging player leading into the series.
Preparing for the Lions Challenge
As Schmidt continues to get his squad ready for that first series right before Christmas, he knows it won’t be easy. He highlighted how valuable it will be to have a focused team to battle the intelligent, passionate Lions players known for their organized attacks. We have an idea of how far they’re going to reach in highly skilled, dynamic, athletic, combative players. We’re trying to put together the most talented team to compete in this cut-throat competition,” he said. It is vitally important that we reach as high as possible, preferably matching them dollar for dollar.
Schmidt’s winning strategy means to stay away from the shiny object of results and focus on the building blocks of a process oriented mindset. I don’t pretend that I think we want to get distracted by the outcomes. We want to be really process-driven. I know that’s boring, but Les is of the same ilk, so you’re going to get the same thing for the next few years as well,” he explained.
Leave a Reply