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Joe Schmidt can do what McKenzie, Cheika, Rennie and Jones couldn’t
By Finn Morton
The Wallabies have the longest active winning streak out of any tier-one team. With South Africa losing to Ireland in a thriller last weekend, Australia now stands as the only nation with three wins on the bounce dating back to last year’s Rugby World Cup.
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Everyone remembers the Wallabies’ disappointing World Cup campaign which saw them bow out before the quarter-finals for the first time. But after beating Portugal in their last pool game, and Wales twice this month, Australia will look to extend their run to four Tests.
But for coach Joe Schmidt, there’s a golden slice of history up for grabs if Australia can get the better of Georgia at Sydney’s Allianz Stadium on Saturday. If they win, Schmidt will do what the last four Wallabies coaches couldn’t dating back to Ewen McKenzie.
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New Zealand-born Robbie Deans was Australia’s last coach to win three Tests from three to start their time in charge. Deans beat Ireland 18-12 in Melbourne before recording two wins over France on Australian soil in 2008.
Deans actually won five in a row after getting the better of South Africa 16-9 in Perth on July 19 and then a 34-19 victory over New Zealand at Sydney’s Olympic Park. But that feat of five wins is something to revisit if the current Wallabies continue their unbeaten run.
After the 2013 British and Irish Lions Tour, Deans resigned and was replaced by Ewen McKenzie. McKenzie’s first Test was an 18-point defeat to the All Blacks in Sydney, and the Australian later stepped away from the role in 2014 after another loss to the All Blacks.
The two coaches that followed, Michael Cheika and Dave Rennie, both lost their second Tests. Rennie came painfully close to beating the All Blacks in Wellington to open his account, with the visitors drawing 16-all before losing at Eden Park one week later.
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Australia’s most recent coach before Schmidt was, of course, Eddie Jones. With all the belief the experienced rugby guru instilled in fans Down Under, the Wallabies went on to lose seven of nine Tests in 2023 which included a 0-5 start.
That brings us to now.
Former World Rugby Coach of the Year, Joe Schmidt, was unveiled as the Wallabies’ third coach in as many years in January. There was excitement and optimism surrounding the expertise the New Zealander could bring to the coaching table.
Months passed and eventually, the Wallabies ushered in their new era with a 25-16 win over Wales in Sydney. One week on, they repeated those heroics with a 36-28 victory at Melbourne’s AAMI Park, and they’re now preparing to take on Georgia.
Schmidt will become the first coach since Deans to go 3-0 to start their Wallabies coaching career if the men in gold are successful. Australia will also extend their winning streak, with the next-best tier-one unbeaten run currently New Zealand and Scotland’s two wins.
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History awaits.
“I do love coaching. I keep trying to give it up, to be fair, but I’ve really enjoyed the staff… I’d only met them, now, three weeks ago, and really enjoying the players,” Schmidt told reporters in Melbourne.
“The players are, it’s a great group of young men and mature men. There’s a couple of older ones but they hold the ship together.
“Some of those young guys, it was a tough day at the office for some of those young guys today.
“I also enjoy getting to the end of this block and taking breath and then getting ready to go again.”
Wallabies with potentially four wins in a row against the 15th, 11th, and 12th ranked teams, might as well not even bother with the Rugby Championship this year, give them the trophy already.
I don’t think this article should be labelled analysis