Schmidt plays down Wallabies ‘grand slam’ ambitions

November 10

Coach Joe Schmidt offers only a wise, wry smile when the outlandish prospect of a first British Isles ‘grand slam’ for the Wallabies in 40 years is broached.

Yet following a dramatic weekend of European rugby, suddenly perhaps the prospect didn’t seem such a distant pipedream after all, even for a pragmatist like him.

“The grand slam may still be alive,” acknowledged Schmidt after his side had, almost miraculously, avoided tumbling at the first of the four hurdles against England at Twickenham, escaping to run out as last-gasp, 42-37 winners.

“But we won’t look too far ahead.”

Indeed, he said, he and his coaching staff would be looking only at the next game against Wales at the Principality Stadium on Sunday, up against the side who had dismantled them at last year’s World Cup.

Still, what he saw on TV on Sunday, as Wales lost for the 10th Test in succession – this time 24-19 to Fiji – can surely, secretly at least, only have encouraged the dreamer in the New Zealander.

Doubtless he would never admit to it but the team coached by his Kiwi colleague Warren Gatland looks there for the taking, shambolic at times during their first-ever loss on home soil to the Pacific islanders.

A win in Cardiff, of course, would take the Wallabies halfway to their goal of emulating the Mark Ella-inspired class of 1984, but, even then, Schmidt would only outline the monumental nature of what would come afterwards.

For not only will Australia now have to face a team driven by desperation to avoid a record 11th straight defeat in Cardiff, but then comes a Scotland side who, Schmidt noted, “were really impressive in beating Fiji last week”.

And that was before the Scots even gave world champs South Africa a run for their money for much of Sunday’s clash at Murrayfield, until eventually succumbing 30-15.

Then there’s a reunion with some old friends in Dublin. “I still know some of those Irish guys quite well,” grinned Ireland’s former coach Schmidt. “So we’ll see where we get to there.”

Yet even if the slam is a long way off, there was no question the Wallabies’ epic triumph on Saturday has already transformed the confidence of his squad, as Schmidt reflected: “I’m not sure we’ve turned it around. I think we’re turning.

“Inevitably, progress is never linear, so there’ll be a few peaks and troughs on the way further forward, but I’ve found a really good bunch of people, both in the staff and in the playing group.

“The players can grow confidence in themselves. And I thought some of the skill exhibited, some of the things we’ve been working really hard on, were certainly visible, which gives us a bit of confidence, certainly gives the players a bit of confidence.

“I think there’s green shoots.”

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