The Joe Schmidt ‘evidence’ that Nic White was right to abandon Wallabies retirement and the power forward ‘that sticks in all our minds’
Wallabies No.9 Nic White had a five-day retirement in August
Joe Schmidt has praised the form of Nic White since his dramatic U-turn on Test rugby retirement and also singled out a Wallabies replacement for the way he can turn games in that role.
White had been given a celebratory send-off when Australia defeated the British and Irish Lions in their third Test encounter in Sydney on August 2. The Wallabies squad had even taken to the pitch in the lead-up to the game that week wearing White-like moustaches for a picture.
However, just five days after the Wallabies defeated the Lions in the series finale, White shelved his retirement and was named in the travelling squad to take on South Africa in the opening two rounds of the Rugby Championship.
Injuries at scrum-half and a void in the team leadership were the reasons why the 35-year-old binned his retirement after just five days, and he went on to impress against the Springboks, helping Australia to a famous comeback win in Johannesburg and a very competitive loss in Cape Town.
“He is very efficient in that area…”
The Wallabies are now in Townsville preparing for this Saturday’s Round Three clash with Argentina in the Championship. White has been picked to start at No.9 for what will be his 76th Test appearance.
Schmidt has now reflected on the value of having White quit on his international retirement and continue to help the Wallabies. “Nic has been great,” said the head coach at his team announcement media briefing on Thursday.
“He’s always great in the environment, but his experience – if we didn’t have his experience, it would be a bit harder for Tom Lynagh, but Nic takes a lot of the pressure off.
“If we need to make a kick, it might be Tom; Tom’s got a nice long kicking game, but it can just as easily be Nic White and he is very efficient in that area.
“Even mapping the team around: while the nine has often got the head down and is distributing, Nic has got enough awareness on the way in that he has already looked. The evidence of that is the quick tap from the free kick from the scrum (in Cape Town). He’s so quick to take that.
“The set play we were going to play is exactly what he did, so he just did that after the pause and really put the ball on a plate for Corey Toole to finish.
“He is a really good defensive player as well. He may not look like that with the size of him, but an incredibly brave defender and very good at organising and getting to where he needs to be to help other players be where they need to be. So both sides of the ball, he is very useful to us.”
Schmidt also gave kudos to sub loosehead Angus Bell for the impact he has delivered off the bench. The prop would have been expected to start last time out against South Africa with James Slipper unavailable, but the coach held Bell in reserve and instead handed Tom Robertson his first Test start since 2018.
Robertson will again wear the No.1 jersey in Townsville, with Bell providing cover at the No.17. Asked if this was because the soon-to-be 25-year-old was turning games in that role as a sub, Schmidt said: “That’s it exactly.
“That is normally a 40/40 (minute) balance or 45/35 balance, so it’s not a significant difference in game time.
“We have no doubt about the quality of what Angus can bring us to start, but when he finishes games with the power he generates and his ball playing… the one that sticks in all our minds is the nice short pass to Harry Wilson (for a try in Johannesburg).
“So his feel for the game, not just as a ball carrier but as a distributor, he is building his game out and when he builds it out in the second half, it can open up opportunities for us.
“We are going to have to be really good in that second half because even going back to Santa Fe (a 27-67 loss in September 2024), we led at half-time. That second half is going to be really important, and Angus is going to be important in that second half.”
