They might have been overpowered and smashed in “all of the collision areas” but Joe Schmidt says he won’t deviate from his “long-term plan” by overhauling his side and calling for troops from overseas to help the Wallabies.
After three straight wins in July to start his tenure, Schmidt’s honeymoon and the easiest runway of any Wallabies coach to start their tenure came to a sudden halt on Saturday in Brisbane.
Indeed, the reality check hit hard against the “benchmark” back-to-back world champions Springboks, who opened up a 33-0 lead before shipping a try late in the match following a series of yellow cards.
As Rassie Erasmus’ side snapped an 11-year drought in Brisbane by winning 33-7, the 26-point margin equalled the Wallabies’ heaviest home loss to the Boks set in 2013.
“That’s probably a benchmark for us,” Schmidt said. “We’ve had three Tests prior to that but that’s really a starting point up against the really big boys.
“The scoreline is the scoreline, but the performance is what we really need to focus on and try to get a number of the elements more competitive. I thought from most of the collision areas, all of the collision areas really, we struggled from the breakdown.
“They don’t give you a lot of breathing space. It was hard to find oxygen in that first half, particularly when we conceded eight or nine penalties and they didn’t get penalised to the same extent.
“It just made it very, very tough work getting out of our half and then when we did, we kicked the ball away a couple of times without kicking it accurately.
“We didn’t get into the aerial contest and then obviously the contest at the breakdown, we just weren’t effective enough there.”
Pieter-Steph du Toit runs over the top of Andrew Kellaway at Suncorp Stadium on August 10, 2024 in Brisbane. (Photo by Morgan Hancock/Getty Images)
The Wallabies entered the match without up to half-a-dozen forwards, including Taniela Tupou (personal reasons) and Angus Bell, who is edging closer to a return from injury.
But after being physically dominated, questions are once again being raised whether Schmidt must reconsider his Australia First policy, having only picked Japan-based Marika Koroibete from overseas in his 36-man Wallabies squad.
Asked whether Saturday’s result would make him rediscover his stance on “favouring” locally-based players, Schmidt said he would continue to look inward because of the need to build and develop cohesion.
“Not entirely,” he said. “I think there’s guys who will improve what they’re delivering. Maybe it won’t be improved in time for next Saturday, but we do have to have a bit of a long-term plan.
“We have got a much younger side than the South Africans. We’ve got a lot less caps, we’ve got a lot less experience and, therefore, my belief if we chop and change too much then it’s very hard to grow the cohesion because when you go out in a game like that you are very interdependent and you’re going to have to make sure that everyone knows their role [and] has been built ready to deliver their role.
“I am a realist, and I know that you don’t suddenly match up, front up and better those guys, but you’ve got to better yourself for next week.”
Joe Schmidt says the Wallabies need a long-term plan. (Photo by Matt Roberts/Getty Images)
Schmidt’s counterpart Rassie Erasmus said he couldn’t comment on whether it was in the new Wallabies coach’s best interests to follow his lead by upending their eligiblity laws and pick widely from abroad, but backed the New Zealander to successfully turn around the country’s fortunes.
“I just know Joe Schmidt is a very smart man, and he will have reasons why he does things a certain way, and it’s not for me to comment on why,” Erasmus said.
“Was I surprised [by no OS players]? I’m not surprised. I mean, I’m not in his shoes, and I don’t know Australian rugby inside out in the boardrooms.”
Wallabies captain Allan Alaalatoa, who had a tough afternoon against the best front-row in the world, lamented his side’s ability to absorb pressure.
“It’s going to be a tough pill to swallow, but a lot of our boys will learn from that,” he said.
The Wallabies weren’t helped by being on the wrong end of a 15-12 penalty count that only started to even out late in the second half when Luke Pearce showed the Springboks three yellow cards in quick succession.
While the Wallabies have been guilty of giving away careless penalties in the past, most of their ill-discipline occurred because of the pressure of the Springboks at the set-piece or at the breakdown after being well-beaten in the collision area.
Schmidt, however, said he thought the Wallabies could fix that costly area quickly.
“I have a few ideas and we will try to get that sorted out,” he said.
“I felt we were a little unlucky on a couple. The set-piece ones, they’re very hard to solve from a discipline perspective, you’ve just got to be better at your core role.
“Across the board, I thought we scrambled really well defensively a few times.
“The effort away from the ball watching players race back and chase down some really athletic players and then actually shut that down and turn it over was really impressive to see that the determination is there.
“There’s a pride in playing for the Wallabies and there’s some elements of the game that I felt proud about as well, but there’s obviously elements of the game that we need to be a heck of a lot better at.”
Christy Doranhttps://www.theroar.com.au/2024/08/11/why-realist-schmidt-wont-rush-to-bring-in-troops-from-overseas-to-fix-wallabies/‘We have to have a long-term plan’: Why ‘realist’ Schmidt won’t look overseas to fix Wallabies
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