Joe Schmidt hits back at B&I Lions’ stark warning over ‘tour agreement’ as Andy Farrell ‘unlikely’ to field his ‘best team every week’
Joe Schmidt has hit back at the British and Irish Lions CEO Ben Calveley's warning.
Head coach Joe Schmidt has hit back at the British and Irish Lions CEO Ben Calveley’s warning about making Wallabies players available to the Super Rugby Pacific teams.
The Lions kick-off their tour Down Under in Perth with a clash against the Western Force on Saturday, June 28.
For the game, Schmidt has made Wallabies call-ups Nick Champion de Crespigny, Dylan Pietsch, Tom Robertson, Darcy Swain and Nic White available for selection to the Force and has confirmed that he plans to release other players to their clubs for the midweek matches.
This has been a hot topic ahead of the series, with many expressing concerns over the perceived strength of the Australian Super Rugby sides and their ability to prepare the touring team for the Test series properly.
Release of Wallabies players
Veteran journalist Stephen Jones slammed the Lions and Schmidt last month, stating that it was a betrayal of the tour if the latter protected his players from playing for their club teams.
“To come all that way to play an inadequate side is a betrayal of an invitation to the Lions and this time they really should have put their foot down and had the strengths of opponents written into the tour contract. They did not. Why?” he wrote in his Sunday Times column.
“Otherwise, the Lions should have gone elsewhere. It is high time that they worked hard to develop another touring location so that they can, blatantly, hold to ransom one of the regular hosts. Sometimes, there just is no gratitude.”
Upon arrival in Australia, Calveley warned Rugby Australia and the Wallabies head coach about protecting players.
“We’ll see a competitive fixture at the weekend [against the Western Force], and that’s what we’re looking for. We want to make sure our guys are battle-hardened before the Test series,” he said.
“The agreement is very clear, Test players have to be released to play in fixtures leading into that series. That is our expectation.”
British and Irish Lions chief issues warning to Joe Schmidt over Wallabies player release
Joe Schmidt hits back
Schmidt has now hit back at the CEO’s remarks, pointing to the fact that the British and Irish Lions won’t be playing their best team for every single match.
He added that many of the players that will feature for the Queensland Reds in the second match of the tour on July 2 played for the Wallabies last year and could still earn recalls ahead of the Test series.
“There’s some serious plate spinning at the moment, trying to get ready,” Schmidt told the Sydney Morning Herald.
“The ambition is there’ll be some going back to the Reds, and some going back to the Waratahs.
“But in reality, the Lions have got their squad. Are they going to play their best team every week? That’s unlikely.
“So are we going to play all the same players every week? I’m not sure whether (coach) Andy (Farrell) was part of that discussion or whether it was just coming from the CEO, but I’ve read the tours agreement and it’s having the best intention to have the highest quality players available and playing.
“It’s not as specific as saying every Wallaby from a state or a club has to be available to play every game that the Lions come through on.”
The Wallabies boss added that he believes his coaching team and Rugby Australia have worked hard to adhere to the agreement in the “most positive way” possible.
“The Reds, you’ve got a lot of guys there who played for the Wallabies last year. And some of them are returning from injury and we wanted them to play anyway,” Schmidt said.
Adding: “There are a whole lot of guys in the group for the Reds who we had in a hub up there. Just about every player who will play against the Lions was in our wider squad.”
After facing the Force and Reds, the Lions head to Sydney where they will tackle the NSW Waratahs on July 5, with Australia taking on Fiji the following day at McDonald Jones Stadium in Newcastle.
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