Such is his extraordinary legacy from nearly a decade with Leinster and Ireland that Joe Schmidt will undoubtedly be a central figure in the build-up to the Wallabies pitching up at the Aviva Stadium for the Autumn Nations Series finale. He will be acutely uncomfortable with the attention, but is also glad to be back in the country he once called home.
“I know the Aviva pretty well and that will be nice to get back there, albeit in a different changing shed,” said Schmidt after Australia’s 27-13 loss to Scotland at Murrayfield on Sunday scuppered their hopes of a first Grand Slam tour since the legendary Wallabies team of 1984.
“I’m really excited about getting back, I don’t know about being love-bombed. I coached against [Ireland] a couple of times with the All Blacks and I think I was pretty unpopular there,” added Schmidt, referencing his time on the All Blacks coaching ticket as an assistant to Ian Foster for Ireland’s 2-1 series win in the summer of 2022 before helping to end Ireland’s World Cup hopes in last year’s epic quarter-final.
“I’ve swapped sides again and there’ll be a degree of unpopularity.
“The way my family and I were looked after in Dublin was fantastic, and right around Ireland. It’s a special place for us. We still have a home there and a daughter, I’m looking forward to catching up with her.
“It will be a nice week to get back there but there’s only one game in town and that’s about the footy and trying to help these guys prepare as best they can.”
Schmidt took charge of the Wallabies after their worst World Cup showing ever under Eddie Jones with the task of reigniting the Australian team in time for the British & Irish Lions’ tour down under next summer. Saturday’s game is Andy Farrell’s last before his sabbatical to take charge of the Lions.
The Wallabies have won six and lost six of Schmidt’s dozen games in charge, finishing last in the Rugby Championship, but dramatically beat England 42-37 in Twickenham and demolished Wales 52-20 in Cardiff before last Saturday’s setback in Murrayfield, when his side missed 34 tackles.
Are Ireland back to their best after thrashing Fiji?
“I think [the players are] starting to believe in themselves,” said Schmidt. “I don’t think necessarily that they did initially. It was a little bit of a deflated situation.
“I always said from the start it would never be linear, because high performance – it just isn’t. There’s going to be days where it doesn’t go as well as you’d like it to go.
“I think we’re building a little bit of momentum. What I’m hoping is that people do see it as a real contest next July. Our skill execution was a bit off today,” admitted Schmidt after the Scotland result.
“We worked really hard in the first half, and I thought we defended really well. But second half, there’s a fair bit to tidy up.”
Schmidt is hopeful that Matt Faessler (calf) and lock Jeremy Williams (calf) – who were late withdrawals at Murrayfield – may be fit for Saturday but unfortunately for the occasion, their gifted 21-year-old rugby league recruit, Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii, is a major doubt after suffering a wrist injury against the Scots.
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