Opinion: Joe Schmidt’s lack of overseas-based Wallabies will prove costly
Wallabies second-row Will Skelton and head coach Joe Schmidt.
The recent Rugby Championship internationals between Australia and South Africa showed that Wallabies boss Joe Schmidt will have to select more overseas-based players if they want to be competitive in the international arena once again.
However, Schmidt named a 35-man squad on Tuesday for his side’s upcoming Rugby Championship Tests against Argentina in La Plata and Santa Fe and apart from Japan-based Marika Koroibete, all his players are affiliated to Australian clubs.
Experienced Western Force-bound hooker Brandon Paenga-Amosa has also been included in the Wallabies group after a three-year stint with Top 14 heavyweights Montpellier.
After a horrendous 2023 Test campaign under the guidance of former head coach Eddie Jones, Schmidt was always going to have a difficult task on his hands when he took charge of the two-time world champions.
Schmidt’s appointment as Wallabies boss was seen as a coup for Rugby Australia as he worked wonders as Ireland head coach and was part of New Zealand’s backroom staff when they lost narrowly to South Africa in last year’s Rugby World Cup final in France.
Fine start to international season
The 58-year-old made a good start to his Wallabies coaching tenure when he guided them to back-to-back victories over Wales and they also beat Georgia in a one-off Test.
All three of those matches were played in Australia which gave Schmidt’s troops plenty of confidence ahead of their opening Rugby Championship encounters against the Springboks, which were both played in their backyard – in Brisbane and Perth.
The Wallabies were in for a rude awakening, however, as they suffered successive defeats and although they fared slightly better in Perth than in Brisbane, it was obvious that there is a big difference in class between the two sides, with the world champion Springboks holding the upper hand in most facets of play.
This was especially evident in the forward exchanges where the World Cup holders’ dominance in the scrums in Brisbane and the mauls in Perth paved the way to their respective victories.
It begs the following question: ‘How would the Wallabies have fared if they selected more overseas-based players for those two Rugby Championship matches?’
It’s obvious that Schmidt is trying to build for the future with a largely inexperienced team, particularly with next year’s British & Irish Lions tour looming on the horizon.
However, former Wallabies captain George Gregan recently highlighted how important it is for Australia to focus on their present form and bolstering their forward ranks could go a long way to improving that situation.
In recent weeks, Schmidt’s has given a lukewarm reaction to the question of him selecting overseas-based players as he emphasised that players based in Australia would get preference.
Those recent encounters against the Boks showed that there is still plenty to work on for the Wallabies particularly in the forward exchanges and a change in personnel in some key positions – especially in the pack – could do the trick in that regard.
If the Wallabies want to be more competitive, they have to improve in their forward play and adding the likes of La Rochelle’s Will Skelton (lock) and Tolu Latu (hooker) as well as Exeter Chiefs’ Scott Sio (prop) would bolster them up front as their current pack looked out of their depth against the Boks.
It’s imperative that Australia’s forwards lay a good platform for their backs to provide some magic on attack. The aforementioned trio have gone through the mill at Test level and their experience could prove to be the difference between winning and losing for the Wallabies.
Brilliant game-breakers in Wallabies squad
The Wallabies have brilliant game-breakers like Koroibete, Noah Lolesio, Max Jorgensen, Andrew Kellaway and Tom Wright in their current squad, but if they are not competitive up front, such players will have little impact with ball in hand.
With those back-to-back games in Argentina their next assignments, the Wallabies head into those fixtures with their backs to the proverbial wall as they are languishing at the bottom of the Rugby Championship table with zero points amassed thus far.
Schmidt has mentioned that he has held talks with Skelton, which is a step in the right direction, but there are rumours that French clubs are blocking players from representing their countries in the build-up to the upcoming Top 14 season.
Hopefully that is not the case because as things currently stand under World Rugby’s regulation 9, clubs are obliged to release their players for international duty in specific windows during the year. If they do not do that they and can face penalties.
Desperate times calls for desperate measures and that is the situation which the Wallabies find themselves in currently after their woeful start to the Rugby Championship and one can’t help but feel that Schmidt missed a trick in not selecting more overseas-based players in his squad.
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