Watching the Wallabies struggle to eventually overcome Fiji by 21-18 thanks to a questionable 78th-minute try by captain Harry Wilson in Newcastle on Sunday was an uncomfortable reminder that, for all the improvements under Joe Schmidt, Australia were knocked out at the pool stages of the last World Cup.
After the win, Schmidt didn’t quite go so far as to embrace the tag of underdogs ahead of the upcoming Test series against the Lions, but he accepted that will be the common perception.
“It’s not really a mindset that we’ve have time to consider even, but I’m sure externally it’ll look like that,” admitted Schmidt. “We didn’t play well enough today for people to have expectation that we’ll come bowling into Brisbane and knock the Lions over. I’m not sure that expectation was there before today, and so we’re going to have to build that quiet resolve and inch by inch we can work our way towards that.”
On a sunny Sunday afternoon in, eh, “midwinter” temperatures of 20 degrees, the 28,132 crowd in the Newcastle International Sports Centre, home to the Newcastle Knights rugby league team and the Newcastle Jets FC, was a record rugby union crowd for the city two hours north of Sydney.
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No less than those watching on television, though, they would have been distinctly underwhelmed by the Australian performance. After a bright, at times polished start, they lost their way, whereas the flying Fijians grew into the game and looked the likelier winners when leading for 22 minutes in the second half after two stunning tries, before having another disallowed.
Schmidt admitted there were “probably a myriad of things” which will keep him awake at night, lamenting what he felt was poor reward for their scrum supremacy, and having three tries effectively ruled out for forward passes or a crooked throw.
“That’s a skill execution thing that we need to take responsibility for and be more accurate with because if you put those four things together then you are already in a lot stronger position in controlling the result.”
This game was also an uncomfortable reminder that Fiji’s win over Australia was the primary factor in condemning them to a first World Cup pool exit two years ago.
Asked if he felt the Wallabies had made sufficient progress in his 18 months at the helm to give him confidence that they can beat the Lions, Schmidt admitted: “I’m not a really confident sort of person.”
But then he swiftly added: “There’s not real confidence but there’s a quiet resolve. And that quiet resolve, hopefully over the three-match series, can build to something that will earn us the support of a very interested group. It’s a great opportunity for us to bring the game back to the focus point that we’d love it to be in Australia.
“We’ve loved our week in Newcastle,” he said, adding: “If that’s a taste of what’s to come, I know that was a small bite and there’s some big mouthfuls to come. We’ll just work away with that quiet resolve to try to be better as we work our way through this series.”
Australia outhalf Noah Lolesio, who has started 12 of 15 Tests under Schmidt, was stretchered off in a neck brace but the head coach said: “I think it was whiplash and his head hit the ground, so I’m hopeful that that’s going to be something that will resolve itself reasonably quickly. But at the same time, we’re going to make sure that he’s okay and we don’t take any risks we don’t need to there, which is the same as Dave Porecki, who came off with an HIA.”
No less than the Lions in their stodgy 21-10 win over the Waratahs on Saturday, the mindset of the Wallabies players must have been distracted by the prospect of the impending Test series.
“I think it is inevitable to a degree,” said Schmidt. “Sometimes you try to talk yourself into something and try to narrow the focus but inevitably we were watching the game last night with the Waratahs playing the Lions.”
The Waratahs may have provided something of a template for the Wallabies in their use of fast line speed, while also competing furiously at the breakdown, although Schmidt played that down.
“Obviously I’ve watched the games and I know that Faz [Andy Farrell] was disappointed with the aerial game in the first one. He mentioned it, and so they certainly appear to have sorted that out. I thought they were very strong in the air and then I’ll be interested to see who plays [for the Lions] against the Brumbies on Wednesday because shaking towards the Test match that will give us a little bit more prediction in terms of who’s going to be where and of what might best help us to put pressure on them.”
The Lions face the Brumbies on Wednesday in Canberra and an invitational Australian-New Zealand selection in Adelaide on Saturday, after which the countdown to the first Test will begin in earnest. This also afford Schmidt a chance to renew acquaintances with friends from his time in Ireland, not least Johnny Sexton and Farrell.
“I am sure I will have a coffee with them at some stage. You don’t coach someone for 10 years and not have a relationship with them and the same with coaching with Andy.
“It is one of the things I love about rugby. I caught up with Mick Byrne [Fiji head coach] on Friday and some of the [assistant] coaches and it was great. Their analyst was our analyst at the Blues in 2007. There is so much overlap between people that are good people, and you enjoy their company. And you know not to talk rugby anyway.”
