As rugby union in Australia prepares to launch into its golden decade, spaceship Wallaby remains a work in progress. Joe Schmidt’s vast project has showed promise, but testing has been far from rigorous and the countdown has now hit zero. At the launchpad of the MCG on Saturday night in a must-win Test against the British & Irish Lions watched by 90,000 fans, it’s time for lift-off.
Schmidt appreciates what a victory would do for Australian rugby. “I would never be outcome focused,” he said this week. “But this would be special and it would be special for this group. I think it would accelerate a little bit of their growth as well in terms of gaining confidence.”
The former Ireland coach is in a difficult place. The proud Australian rugby community cannot stomach the thought of a series whitewash against the Lions but the Wallabies are not long out of their doldrums. Though improvement under Schmidt secured spring tour victories over England and Wales last year, the XV to trot out on to the MCG turf remains raw.
The captain, Harry Wilson, has played just 24 Tests, and Rob Valetini is the only one in the side outside the front row who has played more than 50. The Wallabies’ physicality is expected to be enhanced by the return of Valetini and Will Skelton, both powerful ball-runners and huge athletes. But it is their experience that may be more important for teammates more green than gold.
Skelton’s long career overseas with La Rochelle and record against Europe’s best has earned him reverence within the squad. “His résumé speaks for itself,” the full-back Tom Wright said. “Really calm head, won multiple things in the northern hemisphere, obviously a large – larger than most – frame.”
Their marauding presence and ability to find advantage with the ball is expected to earn the Wallabies more of the momentum in the match’s opening exchanges. Last week in Brisbane the hosts were overrun, and skilful but diminutive fly-half Tom Lynagh was given a less-than-ideal platform by his forwards in his starting debut.
Wright said the players had “real belief” in Lynagh, even though he has been thrust into the No 10 role only last week after the neck injury to Noah Lolesio. Wright and Lolesio have developed a strong connection at the Brumbies that Schmidt had sought to continue with the Wallabies, but Lynagh is a different proposition.
“I think Tommy’s brought his own little swagger that he’s got at the Reds,” Wright said. “I’ve admired that about his game for a little while. He’s got a slight, sort of subtle confidence about himself. I think we’re going to see more and more of that ooze out of him the more comfortable he becomes in the starting 10 jersey.”
Confidence has been a recurring theme for the Wallabies this week. Wilson joined in on Friday. “We didn’t start too well in that first Test but during that second half, once we got a bit of possession, a bit of territory and started playing our sort of footy, we take a lot of confidence from that.”
Schmidt is frank about the stage the Wallabies are in. “We’ve got a group of players who haven’t won too much in recent times, whether it’s in Super Rugby or whether it’s internationally, and so I think building confidence is an incremental thing,” he said.
“You’ve got to get small wins here and there. Winning the second half, it just helps a little bit, but we know that we’ve got to put more and more, stack more and more of those winning moments together to try to get a result because this weekend is pivotal.”
The weather forecast is for rain and a top temperature of 12C, an outlook that will be familiar to the 40,000 Lions fans in Melbourne. On a slippery field, the Lions players will also be in their element with referee Andrea Piardi, the Italian who took charge of Leinster’s United Rugby Championship final and the Lions’ 48-0 win over the AUNZ Invitational XV in Adelaide.
After New Zealand referee Ben O’Keeffe controlled the first Test, Schmidt said his team “just have to adapt” to the different interpretations of the Italian referee. “As a less experienced team, that is part of the learning process. While we see it [a Lions Test] as a pinnacle, inevitably when you have less experience you are still learning, and that’s something that we’re trying to fast track as much as we possibly can.”
If the Wallabies lose, impatient critics will demand improvement. The strong play from the First Nations & Pasifika XV on Tuesday means Lukhan Salakaia-Loto and Charlie Gamble would then have a chance for the dead rubber of a third Test. But the long-planned transition from Schmidt to Les Kiss next year, and Schmidt’s reluctance to effect wholesale change, means there will be little fans can do but to strap in and see where this voyage goes.
“We’re not going to expect the same thing from Tom Lynagh and Finn Russell because Finn’s been at the top of the game for so long,” Schmidt said. “We’ve just got to stay focused on ourselves and our growth and try to accelerate it as best we can.”
