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‘A whole different level’: Wallabies will look to improve for world champs
By Finn Morton
The audition is over for the Wallabies. With two-time defending Rugby World Cup champions South Africa about to come Down Under for two Rugby Championship fixtures, the Australians need to lift their game to “a whole different level.”
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Australia have started their new era under coach Joe Schmidt with three wins from as many starts. After beating Wales in both Sydney and Melbourne earlier this month, the men in gold held on for a tough win over Georgia on Saturday.
Rob Valetini and Fraser McReight played a key role in the 40-29 victory, with both backrowers crossing for decisive doubles in what was at times a nervy Test at Allianz Stadium. No. 8 Harry Wilson was also solid despite not crossing for a five-pointer himself.
Winger Filipo Daugunu was red carded late in the first half and Georgia made the most of their one-man advantage by running in two quick tries to reduce their deficit to a couple of points. But the Wallabies were too good in the end as they hung on for an important result.
The Wallabies’ three-Test July series is now done and dusted. With those results now written into the history books, they’re expected to name their squad for The Rugby Championship in a couple of weeks.
“Yeah, it’s certainly the audition over because I don’t think we can’t afford to probably be as loose with the ball to get it ripped off us and probably give up some tries that we’re disappointed with,” Schmidt told reporters on Saturday.
“Going forward to The Rugby Championship, we’ve learnt a little bit more about the players. We’re very much a tight coaching group so, I can’t speak for all the coaches at the moment… whatever decision we make will be based on three games and three weeks of training.
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“I’m also realistic. I’ve been doing jobs similar to this for a long time and the thing that you realise is things do take time, and building combinations takes time; building a game model that people become familiar with… that does take time.
“But we’re out of time. We’ve got to be able to deliver against South Africa which is a whole different level.”
They may have played three Tests this year but some things about the Wallabies remain a bit unclear. One decision fans will no doubt be eager to hear more about is the captaincy, with the coaching staff appointing three different players into the role already.
Queensland Reds loose forward Liam Wright was surprisingly named Australia’s first captain of the year ahead of the Test against Wales in Sydney. But after Wright was ruled out of the next clash against the same foe in Melbourne, the role had to be passed on.
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Test veteran James Slipper resumed the position for the 15th time in his decorated career, which wasn’t a complete surprise considering the prop had led the team during Eddie Jones’ time in charge. But, ‘Slips’ was later ruled out of the clash with Georgia.
ACT Brumbies enforcer Allan Alaalatoa became the latest man to lead the Wallabies on Saturday afternoon – doing so for the third time in his career. But whether Alaalatoa, Wright or Slipper is the long-term choice is yet to be made clear.
“It is complicated for us because I think what we have to do first is just get the squad right as best we can and then the captaincy on top of that,” Schmidt explained.
“With the captaincy, it goes even beyond the coaches. We’ve got a really strong, quite small but strong leadership group and those sorts of decisions we actually discuss with them as well.”
As for the selection headaches that Schmidt and other coaches will have before that first Test against the Springboks in Brisbane, the debate around the No. 10 jumper will likely persist. Noah Lolesio, Ben Donaldson and Tom Lynagh are all potential candidates for that jersey.
Lolesio started the first two Tests of the year against Wales but Donaldson was handed the playmaking reins against the Georgians. There were flashes of promise and moments to forget from both men in these three matches, so the coaches will “think about” their options.
“Both guys who played tonight and Tom Lynagh, the three guys, they’re working hard. For them, there’s a lot of expectation because they tend to drive the game so they have a pretty busy week.
“One of the things as coaches, our responsibility is just to lighten their week so they can get their skill repetitions in because it’s probably some of those smaller skills… hopefully that’ll be demonstrated in three weeks’ time.”
