Wallabies legend: Beating ‘second-tier’ Wales builds confidence, progress needed for Springboks and All Blacks
Wallabies winger Filipo Duaguna celebrates after beating Wales and Australian great Jeff Miller.
Wallabies legend Jeff Miller believes that Joe Schmidt’s charges will head into the Rugby Championship confident after three wins from their opening three matches.
Schmidt took over as Australia’s head coach this year following a disastrous 2023 under Eddie Jones and has seemingly turned the team’s fortunes around, defeating Wales twice and Georgia once.
However, tough challenges await the ex-Ireland boss’ charges, with the Rugby Championship kicking off this weekend with the back-to-back Rugby World Cup winners, South Africa, their first task.
Australia face sterner opponents
Miller, who was part of the 1991 Rugby World Cup-winning Wallabies teams, says that while the Australian players head into the tournament with some confidence, the quality of the opposition in July is of a lower level than what they will come up against.
“Winning three Tests in a row will give the men a bit of confidence, but it was really against second-tier teams,” Miller told South African publication Rapport.
“I would like to see them be competitive but I think the Springboks and All Blacks will have all the advantages of combinations and also be a more physical presence.”
South Africa head into the first Test match at Suncorp Stadium at the summit of the World Rugby rankings, while Wales dropped out of the top ten for the first time in their history following back-to-back defeats to the Wallabies with Georgia now ranked 12th overall.
While Miller is not overly optimistic about Australia’s chances of winning the tournament, he has seen positive signs of improvement in the Wallabies compared to the side that was knocked out of the World Cup in the pool stages for the first time.
“I think we are starting to see improvements in our structures in attack and defence,” he said.
“But I wouldn’t say the Wallabies are now real contenders for the Rugby Championship.”
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Suncorp challenge
Australia’s tournament opener against South Africa is at Suncorp Stadium, a ground that the Springboks have historically struggled at, winning just twice in 13 attempts since 1965.
The world champions have lost on their last four visits to the ground, last winning back in 2013.
“Suncorp is also a stadium that the Wallabies players enjoy and it always gives them a lift,” he added.
“The crowd sits close to the field and it does play a role.”
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