How the Wallabies plan to use Spring Tour to ensure they compete with Lions

As Wallabies coach Joe Schmidt and captain Harry Wilson spoke with reporters after Saturday’s 33-13 loss to the All Blacks in Wellington, the noise of a thunderous haka engulfed the room. It rubbed salt into the wound for the defeated Wallabies, but Schmidt remained positive.

Schmidt understands that it was never going to be a quick fix for the Wallabies. It’s a process, but the coaching mastermind truly believes the Wallabies can compete with the heavily favoured Lions next July if they approach their upcoming Spring Tour the right way.

England, Wales, Scotland and Ireland will host Australia in November. They’re the four nations that make up the prestigious British & Irish Lions representative side, and the team is set to travel Down Under for an intriguing three-Test series next year.

That makes these November Tests the perfect preparation for all involved.

While there’s a lot of expectation for the Lions to win this series and do it well, the Wallabies are by no means a team to be written off just yet. With these four Tests and a Super Rugby Pacific season still to come, Schmidt doesn’t see a reason to panic.

“Going north is, for us, still about building depth because that was this year’s big project was about building depth,” Schmidt told reporters on Saturday.

“We’ve had 16 debutants and a new leader and Harry’s done very, very well.

“Those four Test matches, they make up the Lions for next year so we get a good look at their personnel. Some of them I still know from having coached them. I know them well and I know how good they are.

“It’s bit like when we come up against the All Blacks, you know it’s going to be a really tough tour, but if we can keep building through that tour, then I think we put ourselves in a position of potentially being competitive next July.”

When Schmidt was announced as the Wallabies’ newest head coach in January, it seemed like a daunting task for the rugby guru to take on. The New Zealander is a former World Rugby Coach of the Year but helping the Wallabies return to their former glory seemed like a tall order.

Australia won their first three Tests under Schmidt before The Rugby Championship got underway. They’ve since won just one of their two fixtures against each of South Africa, Argentina and New Zealand.

But it hasn’t been all bad.

On the back of the Wallabies’ heroics in Sydney which saw them so nearly complete an incredible comeback against the All Blacks, the men in gold shot out of the blocks with a confident start at Wellington’s Sky Stadium.

In their last Test before the trip to Europe, the Wallabies silenced the Wellington crowd with an early try to in-form flanker Fraser McReight. Two Noah Lolesio penalties had the visitors in a strong position with a one-point lead just before the half-time break.

But, Caleb Clarke broke through the golden defensive line to score in the 40^th minute to give the New Zealanders a hard-fought lead. The All Blacks ran riot after the break, adding another 14 points while the Wallabies were kept scoreless.

Points Flow Chart

New Zealand win +20

Time in lead

55

Mins in lead

18

68%

% Of Game In Lead

22%

57%

Possession Last 10 min

43%

0

Points Last 10 min

0

For captain Harry Wilson – who has only led the Wallabies in four Test so far – there was a clear message for the playing group after the Test: “Keep our heads up.”

“Obviously, we’re all extremely disappointed with the two results,” Wilson explained.

“We really wanted to put in a good performance this week and obviously we didn’t get it there.

“But, I guess for now, we get a few weeks off to try and just refresh the bodies and get excited for the northern tour which is something which is really exciting for all of us.”