Joe Schmidt hints at British and Irish Lions ‘disrespect’ amid 3-0 whitewash confidence
Wallabies head coach Joe Schmidt and British and Irish Lions back-row Henry Pollock.
Wallabies head coach Joe Schmidt has suggested that there has been a lack of “respect” given to his side ahead of the British and Irish Lions series.
The two sides will go head-to-head in Brisbane this weekend in the first of three Tests, with the visitors heavy favourites for the contest.
Australia have been written off by many observers, while the Lions themselves are incredibly bullish with Henry Pollock claiming that a 3-0 whitewash is “definitely on the table”.
The Wallabies have also been hampered in the build-up to the opening clash following injuries to some of their key players.
Australia’s difficult build up
First choice fly-half Noah Lolesio is out of the entire series while key forwards Rob Valetini and Will Skelton will miss the clash at Suncorp Stadium.
As a result, few have given the hosts a chance of upsetting the Lions.
“I don’t know how much respect we’ve been shown,” Schmidt told reporters. “What I would say is we’ve been working hard.
“The respect we are trying to earn is from our supporters and the people who turn up to support us and [we want] to demonstrate to them that their support is really appreciated by us.
“We’re doing everything we can do earn it during that 80 minutes.”
It was 20-year-old Pollock who stoked the fire earlier this week by insisting that the Lions could win all three Tests.
While he is obviously not wrong and many have predicted a whitewash, it rather did the team talk for Schmidt and the Wallabies.
“We want to come here and be the best Lions team ever. We have been talking about that loads and 3-0 is definitely on the table, hopefully,” he said earlier in the week.
“We are all trying to strive to being the best team we can be and get that 3-0 win.”
The Wallabies’ response
Skelton was duly asked about those comments and revealed that the Wallabies relish being the underdogs.
“I love it. We love it, yeah,” he said.
“We are worried solely about ourselves. The Lions have played some great footie and we want to showcase what we can do on Saturday.
“A series win? Mate, we’re worried about this game. This game is at Suncorp. We’ve put everything into our preparation to make sure that we’re at our best on Saturday and that’s what I’m excited about.”
Interestingly, neither Pollock nor Skelton made their respective 23-man squads for the opening Test, but the latter’s team-mates will hope the Lions youngster will have egg on his face by the end of the game in Brisbane.
