Wallabies coach Joe Schmidt has revealed he will decide whether he wants to continue in the job after next year’s Lions tour within the next few weeks.
Schmidt’s short-term contract expires after that marquee tour but Rugby Australia is keen for him to carry on as he reshapes the team in the wake of the Eddie Jones debacle.
The Roar revealed this week that the pre-Spring tour expectation was that Schmidt would move on after the Lions due to family issues. His son suffers from epilepsy after he had a brain tumour removed as a five-year-old. Schmidt and wife Kelly are based in his native New Zealand with their family.
Joe Schmidt before the Autumn international match at the Allianz Stadium, Twickenham, London. (Photo by David Davies/PA Images via Getty Images)
Schmidt told the Sydney Morning Herald that he would decide by the end of the year – and possibly straight after the Autumn Nations Series finale against Ireland on December 1 (AEDT).
“It’s something I know I have to make a decision on,” Schmidt said.
“And it is something I have committed to making a decision on post-spring tour, and before we get too far into December.
“I’ll talk to Kelly and Luke – because it is kind of a package that we come as – when we have a week in Dublin after the tour. My daughter also lives there, and we have lots of friends and even other family, and my brother lives there – so we will have a chat about it then.
“I would have to say I have thoroughly enjoyed the experience [with the Wallabies] and the players and the staff, and the challenge that it’s been. It won’t be for a lack of enjoyment. It is just trying to be as stable as possible.
“I think since I started [coaching in July] I have had six, eight and ten days in New Zealand in three different spells. And the rest has been on the road or in Australia. So it is just probably getting that somehow balanced.”
If Schmidt decides to go it will spark an intriguing tussle to succeed him. Stephen Larkham, Les Kiss, Dan McKellar and Michael Cheika have all been mentioned as potential replacements.
Schmidt has turned around the confidence in the playing group after what Nic White described this week as a “grim” time under Jones last year.
And a noted Schmidt sceptic, David Campese, on Thursday said the Kiwi coach had won him over after vicitories against England and Wales.
Speaking to Vision4Sport, who offer hospitality packages for rugby’s most iconic events, Campese said: “[Schmidt] is proving me wrong again. It didn’t start well but the players have responded well to the coach. He seems to be doing a great job. He is only on a two-year deal until after the British and Irish Lions tour next year. He will do everything he can do in that time.
“It will then be up to the players to take that knowledge on and let’s see who the next coach is going to be. There was a rumour that Schmidt was just a stop gap but who knows. If he carries on with the improvement and they do well against the Lions, then they would have to look at a new deal until the World Cup.”
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As Rugby Australia chiefs scratch their heads and attempt to resolve contract issues with key Wallabies, they will get a sharp reminder of the stakes involved at Murrayfield on Monday.
This weekend Scotland will be led out by captain Sione Tuipulotu, who was allowed to leave his native Australia and will likely return down under on that Lions tour.FacebookTwitterRedditEmailSharehttps://open.spotify.com/embed/show/0rJEdjaSp08XAn8Hvg6xOq?utm_source=generator
Wallabies halfback Nic White expected Tuipulotu, whose brother Mosese has also made the transition to a Scotland squad thanks to their grandmother, to have extra motivation against the Australians, having not been locked down for the Wallabies.
Sione Tuipulotu. (Photo by Scott Taetsch/Getty Images for Scottish Rugby)
“Unfortunately, we let him get away, but he’s going to have a point to prove this weekend,” White told reporters. “He’s playing some outstanding footy and there’ll be some boys in the group that are really happy to see him doing really well.
“It’s bloody hard work stopping him isn’t it? He’s a triple threat. He’s got a low centre of gravity, very powerful, slick hands and a good kicking game as well.”
“But we’ll do the best we can to limit a guy like that. You can’t stop a guy like that – he’s just a world-class footballer.”
White started against Wales last week where the Wallabies piled on 52 points to back up their close victory over England in the first of four Tests in Europe.
The tourists are expecting a tougher assignment against Scotland, who have Lions No.10 front runner Finn Russell directing their play.
(Photo by Paul Kane/Getty Images)
“They’ve got an absolute maverick of a ten that can throw the ball, whether it’s Finn Russell or [Adam] Hastings. But if it’s Finn Russell, he’s pretty special. Everyone in world rugby knows that.
“You don’t stop a guy like that. What you can do is try and limit his options and his impact on the game.
“It’s impossible to take world-class players like that out of a game. He’s just that classy.”
While the Aussies’ 2-0 start to the tour has surprised many, including plenty of their fans, White said: “No, I think it’s not surprised us.
“We were quite frustrated in the TRC [Rugby Championship] with a couple of results. We’ve been working hard and the results the last couple of weeks have been off the back of a lot of that hard work. But we fully understand we’ve got a lot of hard work ahead of us at where we want to be. We were a bee’s away from being on the wrong side of that result in England.
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“We did some good things in the game [against Wales] on the weekend. There’s plenty we need to work on and we’ve been working at that. It’s good to see parts of our game starting to come together.
“We know we’re up against a different side this week. We’re going to have to be a lot better to come to Murrayfield and get a result against a Scottish side that’s really bloody good at the moment. We’re excited by that challenge, but like I said, we’re under no illusion as to the hard work that needs to go in to prepare ourselves to be able to put a performance out there that we’re happy with.”
Having suffered through the misery of the World Cup year, White said the recovery was well underway thanks to Schmidt.
“Joe said it right from the start: you’ve got to earn it each week and that starts today. This belief has slowly been built off the back of trust,” said White.
“It was pretty grim last year. We’ve been slowly building away at a game plan that Joe wants to play, inching closer to the finished product that we’d like to be someday down the road. We may never get there, but we aim towards it.
“With each week you see it work and you get a little bit more trust within each other, within your own abilities, within the team’s abilities, but mainly within each other around trusting each other to play the style. You’re seeing a lot of patience into our game off the back of that, looking after the ball.
“A lot of it’s come together and it’s taken time. Certainly we weren’t there through the TRC and we’re not there yet, but we’re steps closer. But Joe’s very good at reminding us we’ve still got a long way to go and will remind us again today in review.
“There’s some good things we did, but there’s still a long way to go to be at the pointy end. This is just the beginning of our journey.”
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