Ex-Wallaby reveals Australia’s ‘one and only weakness’ ahead of year-end tour

Former Australia full-back Greg Martin has hailed the Wallabies’ improvements made during this year’s Rugby Championship but feels the fly-half position is their “one and only weakness at the moment”.

Under the guidance of head coach Joe Schmidt, the Wallabies have made great strides over the past 12 months and although they suffered a 2-1 series defeat to the British & Irish Lions, they were competitive in all three Tests and continued with their improvement during the recent Rugby Championship.

Finished third in the Rugby Championship standings

Ahead of the prestigious Southern Hemisphere tournament’s final round, Australia were setting the pace atop the standings but a 28-14 defeat to New Zealand in Perth meant Schmidt and his troops dropped down to third position in the final table.

The Springboks finished at the top of the table after sealing a hard-fought 29-27 win in their last game over Argentina at Allianz Stadium, Twickenham, while the All Blacks had to settle for second position with Los Pumas bringing up the rear in fourth spot.

The fly-half role is a position which Australia have been battling with this year, with Schmidt’s first choice number 10 Noah Lolesio currently out of action due to a season-ending neck injury which he sustained in their opening Test against Fiji in Newcastle in July.

Since then, Tom Lynagh, James O’Connor and Tane Edmed have all made starts at fly-half for the Wallabies while Ben Donaldson has also made cameos in the position off the replacements bench.

Meanwhile, former Wallabies fly-half Carter Gordon, who is currently plying his trade in the NRL with the Gold Coast Titans, could make a sensational return to rugby union which would could put him back in the mix for a spot in Schmidt’s squad for the end-of-year tour to Japan and Europe.

Mat Rogers’ advice to Rugby Australia about ex-Wallaby who ‘is an out and out talent’

Edmed wore Australia’s number 10 jersey in that clash against the All Blacks in Perth but did not impress as his side’s chief playmaker and Martin, who won nine Test caps between 1989 and 1990, feels if the Wallabies can sort out their fly-half conundrum, they can be a force in the international arena again.

Appearing on the DSPN podcast, Martin was asked by the show’s host Martin Devlin about the Wallabies’ progress ahead of their upcoming year-end tour to Japan and Europe and replied: “So Joe Schmidt’s wrapping things up soon, and what he’s done, and I heard you and Murray Mexted talking, was that yesterday?

‘We’ve built incredible depth’

“Whenever you talked to Murray about building depth and copying Rassie Erasmus. Now, maybe Joe Schmidt’s done the same thing. We’ve built incredible depth, not just because we’ve tried people and they haven’t been good enough.

“He has genuinely tried to build a 30-man squad. Our problem, Marty, one, first, second, third, and fourth. We’re pretty good everywhere around the field these days, apart from one place, and that is five-eight (fly-half).

“Until we get that number 10 sorted out, I don’t know if you watched the Wallabies go, I guess you did, Tate Edmed was…

“We’ve got four five-eights that we’ve used in the last two years, but until we can sort that out, what’s the answer? Get Damian McKenzie over here. I don’t know how we sort it out.

“That’s our one and only weakness at the moment.”

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