Joe Schmidt and Rugby Australia set for showdown talks on Wallabies contract situation
Wallabies head coach Joe Schmidt and Rugby Australia boss Phil Waugh.
Rugby Australia (RA) have revealed that they could have an update on Wallabies head coach Joe Schmidt’s contract situation some time this week as his current deal is set to expire at the end of next year’s British and Irish Lions tour.
News of Schmidt’s contract talks follows the announcement of RA’s bold five-year strategy plan – called “From Green To Gold” – which includes winning next year’s three-Test series against the Lions in Australia as well as winning the Bledisloe Cup and Rugby Championship every second year.
Schmidt took over the coaching reins at the Wallabies following a disastrous 2023 international campaign under Eddie Jones in which they won just two out of nine Tests and were knocked out of the Rugby World Cup without qualifying for the play-offs for the first time in the history of the global showpiece.
Improvement from Wallabies in 2024
However, since Schmidt’s appointment the Wallabies have shown considerable improvement and despite finishing at the bottom of the Rugby Championship table, the two-time World Cup winners ended the 2024 Test season with six victories out of 13 matches played.
They finished the year with solid victories over England and Wales and although they lost the other two matches on their Grand Slam tour against Scotland and Ireland, Australia were competitive in both those games.
Schmidt deserves plenty of credit for the turnaround in the Wallabies’ fortunes and players and supporters are keen for the New Zealander to extend his stay with the team through to the next Rugby World Cup in Australia in 2027.
The 59-year-old is currently on holiday in Ireland, where some of his family members are living, but RA chief executive Phil Waugh said he is eager for Schmidt to sign a long-term contract extension when he returns to Sydney this week.
“We’ve been working through with Joe, he’s still overseas and coming back this week, so we expect to sit down with Joe and work through the plan post-Lions,” Waugh told AAP.
“He’s done a lot of heavy lifting and there’s been progress in the Wallabies environment, and he’s surrounded himself with really good people.
“Now it’s important to give players and staff certainty over the next few weeks.”
Rugby Australia’s ‘contingency plan’
Although securing Schmidt’s services is RA’s main goal, Waugh revealed that the governing body are working on a “contingency plan” if Schmidt decides against extending his contract through until the 2027 World Cup with one of Australia’s Super Rugby coaches set to then take charge of the Wallabies.
“We’re working through what that may look like, which is appropriate business practice when you don’t have certain outcomes,” he said.
“I think Joe was quite overt around the fact that he saw his responsibility in elevating Australia and also providing a platform for an Australian to take over when he does finish up.
“If you look across our Super Rugby clubs now the four head coaches across the system – Simon Cron is a strong coach at the Force, you’ve got Stephen Larkham at the Brumbies, Les Kiss in Queensland and Dan McKellar at NSW, so we’ve got four very strong coaches in our system.
“I think that we’re well positioned.”
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