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Wallabies grand slam hopes threatened by an Aussie

Joe Schmidt, Head Coach of Australia, reacts as players of Australia warm up prior to the Autumn Nations Series 2024 match between Wales and Australia at the Principality Stadium on November 17, 2024 in Cardiff, Wales. (Photo by Michael Steele/Getty Images)

Joe Schmidt has pinpointed the danger of his buoyant Wallabies having their British Isles ‘grand slam’ hopes dynamited by one of their own.

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Playing down growing hopes that his touring team could be on their way to a first four-match clean sweep of the home nations in 40 years, Schmidt has outlined the threat posed by a Scottish team galvanised by its new inspirational Aussie leader.

“We’ve got our very own Sione Tuipulotu who’s leading Scotland by example at the moment,” smiled Schmidt, reflecting on the third leg of the Wallabies’ quest in Edinburgh after wins at Twickenham and Cardiff being a potential minefield.

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    Tuipulotu, Melbourne born-and-bred but qualified for his adopted rugby nation through his Scottish grandma, has impressed everyone since being handed the reins to the team for the November Tests.

    A classy, barnstorming centre who’s credited by the Scottish coach Gregor Townsend as “setting the emotional tone and mindset required for the team while contributing significantly to both our attack and defence”, Tuipulotu looks like another of those talents that, maddeningly, got away for the Wallabies.

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    The 27-year-old, who played for Australia’s Under-20s, couldn’t quite make the grade with the Rebels back home so went off on a globetrotting adventure that saw him reinvent his rugby life in Japan and then Scotland, with the Glasgow Warriors star overcoming his share of lonely, tough times along the way.

    But now he’s grown to oversee a team that’s currently feeling just as confident in the end-of-year international tussles as the Wallabies.

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    After leading Scotland to an impressive 57-17 thrashing of Fiji, Tuipulotu’s men then gave the world champion Springboks a bit of a scare before succumbing 32-15, while a second-string outfit outfit blitzed Portugal 59-21 at the weekend.

    With temperatures dropping in Edinburgh this week and Murrayfield offering a potentially chilling new examination of his resurgent outfit, Schmidt warned: “I think they will be very tough … I’ve got massive respect for this Scotland team.

    “They play a fast game, they put massive pressure on at the breakdown with a good loose forward trio. Their tight-five have been going really well as well.

    “And when you get the ball to Finn Russell, he’s a bit of a magician. Out wide, Darcy Graham’s been going super for them with Duhan van der Merwe a threat on the edges.

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    “They’ve got such a good depth as well. They can put another player in, and be really effective.”

    Over the last six Murrayfield encounters, the sides have won three each, with all but one decided by a six-point or fewer margin. The Scots won the other one in a blowout.

    All of which persuades Schmidt to say he hasn’t even looked as far as the tour-ending clash with his former team, Ireland, the following week.

    As for the ‘grand slam’, he shrugs: “I’ll put that on the back burner.”

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    Comments

    3 Comments
    A
    AM 149 days ago

    Schmidt’s failure to develop depth in the squad and rotation of players is the biggest issue for the wallabies. AAA, Slipper and Nongoor are not up to it. But they have Sio and Ainsley not selected. He’s also not developed Pone who is the best ball running prop we have with Bell.


    He’s also going to grind into dust key players like Bell and Thor. It’s a long season and next year will be similar with the Lions. The players already play too many games.


    Schmidt is a good technician but he is a poor head coach as the latter requires planning 2-3 years ahead. See Rassie with his squad rotation for example and his use of OS players. The blueprint is there but Schmidt not bright/able/poor judgment whatever it is to get it.

    S
    SB 148 days ago

    Aussies are in a very different space to the Springboks. Aussies cannot afford to experiment as much as they have to capitalize now and win as much as possible. A good win record and a mighty performance at the next world cup will see a renewed spark in Australia to want to play for the Wallabies instead of AFL or league

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    J
    John 49 minutes ago
    Super Rugby draw heavily favours NZ sides but they can't win in Australia

    Cheers for the comment HHT!


    I think your point on unfair draw and mine, which in essence is about an unfair draw actually aid each other for a rather strong argument that the draw needs to be looked at.


    I think this is a case of two things can be true at once.


    I have chosen in around 1000 words to explore this particular issue with the draw I have identified.


    Your point, with having the NZ teams playing each other twice on some occassions while others in Aus not is also not fair.


    But with the way the table looks currently, would the NZ sides all be in the top six if the draw had been done more in line with my and your point?


    For instance, 4 of the 6 Aus wins against NZ sides have come against the Highlanders, 3 in Aus, 1 in NZ.


    The Landers have beaten the Blues and lost to the Canes by 2 points, those are their only two NZ games to date and they play the Chiefs this weekend. Their 3 games against the Aussie sides in Australia compared to the Blues 1 is a massive disadvantage because travel takes it’s toll.


    Then looking at your example the Blues, they have the toughest season of any side by far but I would also argue that the limited travel is a massive help in preparation, recovery etc. But their draw must be looked at, any side would suffer with a draw like that.


    Although I am not suggesting the Aus sides are better than the NZ sides overall, the current ledger and table set up suggests the rift is not as big currently as the underlying assertion to your argument suggests.


    More will absolutley be revealed over the coming rounds as the strength of the two franchises.

    7 Go to comments
    J
    JW 1 hour ago
    'We offered him a three-year deal': Hurricanes priced out of U20 star

    I see I’m not getting my point across.

    If the plan from his family for him was to make more cash

    Lets play along with you presumption these “shackles” existed then. Logically, as I’ve already tried to show, that makes no sense, but I’ll try to use it to show what I mean by saying/answering.. they would have got more cash by playing hard-to-get with the French clubs by returning to New Zealand and signing with the Hurricanes. Now you should see returning to NZ is not relevant to the discussion, it is also a euphemism, as he would already be (have returned) when he first decided to stay. His family would know that signing a development contract for the Hurricanes in no way legally affects his ability to take an offer in France.


    Now, that wasn’t what I was saying happened, but if you can now follow that thread of logic, I’m saying its because this situation happened, signing for Toulon just months later, that you are wrong to think “returning to New Zealand” must mean he wasn’t “shackled”.


    Actually, I’m not saying that he was “shackled”, the article is saying that. That is how you would read the words “His parents see that as the route they want their son to take, and we support that.” and “but it’s probably a slightly different package to what Toulon can offer” here, and I’m pretty sure in most English speaking places GD.


    Of course without those statements I agree that it is very possible he’s grown, changed his mind from wanting to develop here with players and coaches he’s comfortable/friends with, to where he wants to take on the challenge of a rich and prestigious club like Toulon. A few months is perhaps enough time to people he trusts to open him up to that sort of environment even, but that’s simply not the message we go, is it? I also think you maybe have an over defense stance about thinking intrinsically or literally about money meaning he was thrown lots of dollars? It might be far from the case, but the monetary value of been given a home and jobs for the family, all the bells and whistles a wealthy club can provide etc is far removed from the mentality he’d currently be in of “cleaning the sheds” after a game. Even without real money just the life style they got given when there last would no doubt be enough to change the mind of some grown up living day to day off your own sustenance/plantation or like that they would have had.

    11 Go to comments
    J
    JW 2 hours ago
    Ex-All Black Richie Mo’unga teases return to ‘Test match setting’ in 2025

    They didn’t really let him go though did they. He was gone, already signed to leave some 18 months earlier. Not much they could do.


    Definitely a shame though, hence why I criticize the coaching for not unlocking that composure earlier. We would have seen he was definitely the player we need to take us through that WC, and the next, before the contract talks started. After, was too late. Conversely, if he had of continued to play the way he had been when he signed to go to Japan, I have no doubt Damien McKenzie would have been the player to lead us in 23’, and then we very likely would have won that Final. I’m not so sure Dmac would hve been good enough to get us past Ireland, Richie definitely deserves a lot of credit for simply getting us to the Final.


    But that was all my message to HHT was. That class, or talent in this case, is permeant, and games like Ireland showed he did definitely had that. Obviously Richie’s got a large responsibility in realizing it sooner too, but in terms of not displaying it when it counts in 2019 or 2023, I reckon that’s on the coachs more than a lack of talent on his part, and it’s the same shame when it comes to your sentiment. If he was at the point were he could have saved out bacon against Ireland in 2022, it might not have been too late for NZR to have come in with a big contract offer. The bigger problem now is that Razor is only exasperating that problem with this new group. We now clearly know he was a big factor in Richie taking so long, because he’s replicating the same problems with the current batch. Thankfully NZR had no other option but to offer a big contract to secure Dmac this time though, regardless of how he must have felt after being treated like that.

    8 Go to comments
    L
    Louise Hayward 2 hours ago
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