An “impatient” Joe Schmidt has rejected suggestions from Wallaby halfback Tate McDermott that he’s focused on a narrow attack plan as he clarified his approach and explored the “paradoxical” nature of his team selections ahead of the Test against Argentina in Buenos Aires.
On Friday, Schmidt named a 23 with five changes from the side which was well beaten by South Africa in Perth two weeks ago – bringing in Hamish Stewart at No.12 as his 15th debutant in his sixth Test in charge.
There’s also a new skipper from left field, with Harry Wilson taking over the job due to Allan Alaalatoa’s move to the bench to allow Schmidt to best use Taniela Tupou, who missed the Springboks double header. Wilson will be Schmidt’s fourth captain, as first revealed by The Roar.
With 13 Tests to be played in 2024, Schmidt is nearly at the midpoint of his first year. He has a two-year contract.
When he took over he spoke of his team having to find a rhythm “very, very quickly” but on Friday he said circumstances such as injuries and the weather had worked against the team.
The narrowness has been noted by Stan Sport experts and former Wallabies Tim Horan and Morgan Turinui during the coverage of matches against the Springboks.
But Schmidt maintained it was not his focus.
“We were pretty expansive against Wales and Georgia. I think we were pretty keen to get some width into our game against South Africa in the first one, but it was pretty torrential rain. It was wet in Melbourne as well in the second Welsh Test,” Schmidt said.
“We haven’t exactly been blessed with the sort of weather that lends itself to expansive rugby. I think one of the things around playing South Africa the last couple of weeks was the width. If you stand wide, by the time you’ve made two passes, they land on the second pass receiver and they make your life very difficult.
“If you can tighten up your passing, force them to come in toward you and then try to play around them or try to play through them, I think you just give yourself a better chance of not being knocked over by big men coming forward at high speed, particularly even through the middle of the field with guys like Jesse Kriel and Damian de Allende even Lukhanyo Am, the big men who hit hard.
“If you’re going to start throwing wide passes that they land on you with, you’re going to get knocked around pretty quickly.”
McDermott noted that Schmidt’s style was “very different to how every Super Rugby team plays”.
(Photo by Morgan Hancock/Getty Images)
Asked about McDermott’s comments, Schmidt responded: “It’s such a different level from Super Rugby.
“I’ve coached a number of years of Super Rugby and a lot more years of Test rugby. If you think you can just supplant one way of playing into a Test arena, I think there’s a degree of risk in that. I’m not saying that we don’t want to play expansively.
“We just probably, in the last couple of weeks, haven’t probably had the conditions and don’t look like we’re going to get the conditions again this week [rain is forecast for Sunday’s game].”
Schmidt was asked if he was happy with the progress his team was making in executing his plans.
“I think if you talk to any coach they’re impatient,” said Schmidt.
“They want things adopted quickly, understood quickly and delivered even faster. So there is a process to that, particularly when we have had a lot of changes from game to game.
“We are trying to increase the breadth and depth of our player pool because we know that no matter how hard you try, if you lose a couple of players in one particular position, you immediately become vulnerable if you haven’t built that strength and depth.
“We’re trying to cover a number of bases at the same time, grow the game we play but also grow the strength and depth of the players who are able to play that game.
“And then you’re also in a competition with three of the four semi-finalists from the World Cup last year. So you’re up against very tough opposition to try to implement anything that is new.”
Former coach Eddie Jones never left any doubt about his mission. First it was to win The Rugby Championship (fail), then to smash and grab the World Cup (big fail) and then to build a team that would be competitive at the 2027 World Cup (TBC). Schmidt is trying to balance two goals.
It was a harum-scarum approach and Schmidt was expected to have a calming hand on the tiller. There has been more player movement than many might have expected.
(Photo by Matt Roberts/Getty Images)
“Some of the changes have been enforced. They haven’t all been by design, they’ve been by demand really,” said Schmidt.
I know it’s paradoxical but we’re trying to take a long-term view with a short-term focus.
“We’re trying to win a Test match on Saturday, but we’re also trying to take a long-term view and invest in the development of a number of players that we believe will be able to provide a base of players for the Wallabies through to the Lions and through to that 2027 World Cup, which has to be part of any long-term planning because it’s going to be a massive opportunity to showcase the game and promote the game and be really competitive in the game and in Australia itself.”
Schmidt understood the frustrations of fans as the Wallabies try to build for the future.
“It will continue to take time, but what you do hope for is that we continue to build on the processes that we’re trying to get right. Sometimes the outcomes do take a little time, but we’re impatient,” Schmidt said.
“I know our supporters are impatient for some of those outcomes to be delivered as a result on the scoreboard, and that’s what we’ll be endeavouring to do on Saturday.”
