Joe Schmidt questions Wallabies ‘wealth of overseas players’ ability as Will Skelton misses Springboks clash
Joe Schmidt has not bolstered his squad with multiple overseas talents despite the team's woeful performance against the Springboks.
Wallabies head coach Joe Schmidt has explained why Will Skelton has not been added to his squad for Australia’s Rugby Championship campaign.
Marika Koroibete is the only overseas-based player currently in Schmidt’s squad and makes his return to the starting XV in the second Test match against the Springboks in Perth.
Australia were beaten up front in the opening Test against the Springboks with the South African pack dominating proceedings and despite being outmuscled, the Wallabies boss has not sent out an SOS to Skelton, who skippered the team at the World Cup last year.
Not selecting Top 14-based players
Rugby Australia’s policy around selecting overseas-based players has shifted repeatedly since the ‘Giteau Law’ was introduced ahead of the 2015 World Cup and while it seems that Schmidt has a reasonably loose leash, he has been reluctant to turn to the likes of France-based stars Skelton and Richie Arnold like Eddie Jones did.
Instead, he has opted to test the waters on local shores, even after the poor set-piece showing against South Africa. But Australia’s head coach is not sold on the idea that there are overseas players who could have greatly influenced the scrums anyway.
“We obviously lost Taniela and he is not playing for us again this week, he would add value in the scrum without going overseas and it’s not like there is a wealth of overseas players in the tight five,” he said.
“Obviously, I have had a few conversations with Will [Skelton] but that is a bit complicated during the Rugby Championship.
“That’s not to say that he might not appear at some stage during the Championship or later in the year but we are pretty committed to trying to grow our own resources here – we have used over 40 players so far.”
Ex-Wallaby: Springboks ‘clear understanding’ the reason why overseas players work
Tight five woes
Earlier this month Schmidt also explained that because the Rugby Championship is ‘not a normal Test window in the Northern Hemisphere’ it does make selecting players like Skelton ‘complicated’ logistically.
However, he further explained that the Wallabies are trying to build depth locally and have multiple options in the same positions.
“I know we have got to win Tests straightaway and we are very focused on that but we trying to grow a group of 45/50 that best vaccinates us against injury particularly when we have a double injury in the same position,” he said.
“At the moment, we still have Dave Porecki on the sidelines, Angus Bell has just come back and Taniela is unavailable so we have probably been without possibly our most recognised front rowers from last year.”
Angus Bell’s return
The return of Bell is likely to go a long way in solving the Wallabies’ wobbles in the front-row with head coach praising the loosehead’s ability in the set-pieces and around the park.
Bell has not played since April and considering the power that the Boks possess in the scrums and forward pack, there are concerns over whether he should be starting prop against South Africa.
However, Schmidt attempted to ease those concerns, highlighting the fierce competition in the Rugby Championship and added that Bell can be better managed in the starting line-up than off the bench.
“You have got to start somewhere and if it’s not against the Springboks then it’s the Argentines – who looked pretty good last week as well – and if it’s not them then it’s the All Blacks,” Schmidt said.
“The nature of this competition means that we are up against three out of the four Rugby World Cup semi-finalists in the tournament with us. So there is nothing that is going to be easy so why not now, Angus is confident and worked hard to the point where he is feeling well-abled to get started.
“Starting him allows us to control his minutes as well, he goes straight from the warm-up and starts to build a rhythm and gets that confidence to build straight into the game rather than bringing him off the bench which is more complicated.”
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