New Wallabies boss Joe Schmidt has put the brakes on any expectations of him being a miracle worker as he told reporters he had “never been so unprepared” for a Test coaching role.
The self described “boring” New Zealander is a complete contrast to predecessor Eddie Jones, who took the reins last year promising Australians “smash and grab” Rugby World Cup glory.
Schmidt spoke from Brisbane on Thursday following four days of training with a 38 man Wallabies squad preparing for the first of two Tests against Wales in Sydney on July 6.
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The former Ireland coach and All Blacks assistant has inherited a team ranked ninth in the world and the severe lack of preparation time has put him on edge.
The good news for battle scarred Wallabies fans is that is not necessarily a bad thing.
“I’ve never been so unprepared to be fair,” Schmidt said.
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“This is the one time I’ve got to meet all these players and in those previous roles, I’d had three years with Leinster, and I knew a greater proportion of that squad. Before the All Blacks, I had the Blues and so, yeah, it’s a little bit daunting, to be honest.
“But if I wasn’t nervous, I don’t think I’d be on the edge, doing my job right. So I’m happy to be nervous because it just encourages me to work a bit harder and engage a bit quicker and a bit more often with the players so that we can try to be on the same page. One thing I would say is I’ve got real confidence in our coaching group.”
Schmidt and Eoin Toolan are handling the majority of the backline work with Laurie Fisher, Mike Cron and Geoff Parling running the forwards.
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There are plenty of runs on the board there compared with a Jones support staff that included two former NRL players and an ex-halfback as maul coach.
Schmidt hasn’t picked any overseas stars in his first squad and the talent on paper is modest compared with the heavyweight nations.
The Jones plan was to bash opposition with the likes of Will Skelton, Taniela Tupou, Richie Arnold and Samu Kerevi but Schmidt’s buzz word is “tempo.”
“We’d obviously like to be able to play with some tempo and I don’t think that will surprise anyone,” the 2018 World Rugby coach of the year said.
“I think it’s a way that the players like to play the game and you want players to enjoy playing, and that would obviously be part of it…
“I’m still learning what those strengths are so I’m not going to say that we’ve arrived at a way to play that’s going to be successful, because that’s going to take one more week, hopefully, and then we can put something together next Saturday.”
Schmidt is yet to name a captain and likely won’t until his matchday 23 to play Wales is revealed next week.
He indicated the leadership duties could be shared around in July as he gets to know his players but Allan Alaalatoa and Fraser McReight are among the contenders.
“I’m pretty sure that we’ll use more than just 15 of the same starters, so there could be a different captain for one or two of the Tests,” the 58-year-old said.
“And that will also allow us to just experiment a little bit. But you can’t experiment too much when you’ve got a team like Wales coming.”
Wales, ranked 10th in the world, have plenty of their own issues after losing their last seven straight Tests – most recently a 41-13 defeat to world champions South Africa at the weekend.
But they are coached by a familiar foe in Warren Gatland and will draw confidence from their 40-6 World Cup demolition of Australia.
“I think Wales will be super tough,” Schmidt said.
“They’ll get some guys back in from that South Africa game and that will strengthen their side, I think. They struggled early (against the Springboks), they got an early yellow card, and yet they were still only a point down at halftime.
“So they just don’t know how to go away, Wales. They are very combative.”
WALLABIES SQUAD: Allan Alaalatoa, Angus Blyth, Charlie Cale, Matt Faessler, Nick Frost, Langi Gleeson, Alex Hodgman, Tom Hooper, Isaac Kailea, Fraser McReight, Josh Nasser, Zane Nonggorr, Billy Pollard, Lukhan Salakaia-Loto, Ryan Smith, James Slipper, Taniela Tupou, Rob Valetini, Jeremy Williams, Harry Wilson, Liam Wright, Kurtley Beale, Filipo Daugunu, Ben Donaldson, David Feliuai, Josh Flook, Jake Gordon, Len Ikitau, Andrew Kellaway, Darby Lancaster, Noah Lolesio, Tom Lynagh, Tate McDermott, Hunter Paisami, Dylan Pietsch, Hamish Stewart, Nic White, Tom Wright
WALES SQUAD: Dewi Lake (c), Ellis Bevan, Gareth Davies, Kieran Hardy, Sam Costelow, Mason Grady, Eddie James, Ben Thomas, Nick Tompkins, Owen Watkin, Rio Dyer, Regan Grace, Josh Hathaway, Liam Williams, Jacob Beetham, Cameron Winnett, Corey Domachowski, Kemsley Mathias, Gareth Thomas, Efan Daniel, Evan Lloyd, Archie Griffin, Dillon Lewis, Harri O’Connor, Ben Carter, Cory Hill, Dafydd Jenkins, Matthew Screech, Christ Tshiunza, James Botham, Mackenzie Martin, Taine Plumtree, Tommy Reffell, Aaron Wainwright
JULY SCHEDULE
July 6 vs Wales at Allianz Stadium, Sydney
July 13 vs Wales at AAMI Park, Melbourne
July 20 vs Georgia at Allianz Stadium, Sydney