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David Campese takes back his Joe Schmidt coaching Australia criticism
By Liam Heagney
The legendary David Campese is preparing to eat humble pie, admitting that Joe Schmidt is proving him wrong as the Wallabies coach. Australia are currently two wins from two on their Autumn Nations Series tour having picked off England and Wales, and they next take on Scotland in Edinburgh this Sunday before concluding with a November 30 clash with Ireland in Dublin.
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Campese was brash in his criticism earlier this year about Rugby Australia’s decision to appoint Schmidt, the New Zealander who assisted the All Blacks to their second place finish at last year’s Rugby World Cup, as the head coach successor to the disastrous Eddie Jones.
The 62-year-old Campese, a 1991 World Cup winner, was adamant following The Rugby Championship that the Wallabies should be coach by an Australian, not a recruit from overseas. “I don’t believe we should have a Kiwi coach,” he claimed after the four-team tournament where Australia finished last after just one win in six matches.
“Joe Schmidt hasn’t won anything. Yes, he might have won a Six Nations (with Ireland), but the World Cup is the ultimate for any sports player or coach, and he hasn’t won anything. We always seem to get a coach that has never won anything. We always seem to get the second-best Kiwi coach, never the first-best.
“Joe Schmidt has got no idea about our culture or history. We’re mauling the ball from 22 metres out. We don’t do that. That’s not Australian rugby. We are used to counterattack and attack from anywhere. We can’t even do that. It’s very sad that we have to go through this again with another Kiwi coach.”
Less than two months later, though, Campese has now changed his tune after watching the Wallabies beat England 42-37 and Wales 52-20 and has suggested that Rugby Australia should consider tying Schmidt down to a contract extension through to the 2027 Rugby World Cup, a tournament that the Australians will be hosting.
Speaking to Vision4Sport, who offer hospitality packages for rugby’s most iconic events, Campese said: “He [Schmidt] is proving me wrong again. It didn’t start well but the players have responded well to the coach. He seems to be doing a great job. He is only on a two-year deal until after the British and Irish Lions tour next year. He will do everything he can do in that time.
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“It will then be up to the players to take that knowledge on and let’s see who the next coach is going to be. There was a rumour that Schmidt was just a stop gap but who knows. If he carries on with the improvement and they do well against the Lions, then they would have to look at a new deal until the World Cup.”
The Wallabies scored a total of 13 tries in London and Cardiff, playing a brand of rugby that Campese greatly enjoyed. “Don’t get me wrong, I always want the Wallabies to do well. They are part of my DNA. It’s just that over recent years, it has been disappointing and frustrating to see them where they are. As professionals, with the culture and the history, they have proved me wrong and I am very happy about that.
“I want them to do well. They have long had the talent but not the structures. They have demonstrated they can play great rugby and enjoy themselves. I have been a critic but it was always with the thought back to my days and what we had and how we used to train to get to that level.
“The hope is now these guys, with all the resources they get, can be two of three times better than we were. The attitude of the players, the way they play and the way they are backing themselves now. They are spreading the ball wide and have some great attacking players.
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“The only concern is that they are still a bit off in trying to understand what to do when you haven’t got the ball. They all seem to want to score tries from 45 metres out. Sometimes all you need to do is pass the ball and support and chase, that way you might score even more tries.”
Campese signed off with a prediction about how far cross-code new cap Joseph Suaalii can go in rugby union following his arrival from NRL. “What impresses me the most about him is that he is not a selfish player. He got the ball and did what he had to do as a centre with his passing and offloading. He demonstrated that he is a team player.
“Playing at the top level of State of Origin gives you great confidence. Suaalii was at school three years ago. He has learned rapidly and he is only going to get better. Tom Wright is another player from rugby league. He has always been a good player and he is thriving in this new atmosphere and environment.
“So is Len Ikitau. We have four Super Rugby teams and plenty of talent. It’s just been about trying to find the right combinations. Eddie Jones didn’t rate him, but Joe Schmidt does. They are all playing with smiles on their faces which is great. The more you enjoy your rugby the better you are going to play.”
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Only 4 are actually worth while mentions. Those being Larkham, kiss, Gilmore and Byrne.
Ewen McKenzie and David nuciforas last coaching gigs were both over a decade ago.
Manetti, Bowen and Jim mckay never been in head coach role for 15s at elite level. Potential in a few years maybe?
Dan McKellar got sacked at Leicester for their season efforts and took part in your beloved Rennie's era with the wallabies.
Rod kafer are you serious? His only experience at coaching is doing player coach for part of a year in Saracens 20 years ago. As if anyone would gamble on him to lead the national team.
Perhaps you need to change your tune and rather than claim that Kiwis are out to undermine Ozzy rugby, point the finger at your NSW bogey. Or are you the only one who can sort this out? Schmidt seems to be taking players who were underperforming and turning them into a much better functional team from where I am sitting. In many ways, he has made better progress with the Wallabies than Razor has with the ABs - which has been pretty disappointing imo.
Because the two guys primarily in charge of hiring a new coach for Rugby Australia Peter Horne and Phil Waugh, are Tahs. The Chairman of Rugby Australia Daaniel Herbert is from Qld but he's not that bright and weak.
Horne was good friends with Schmidt and they knew if they hired him on a million dollars a year they would own him and he would select Tah players who shouldn't be there . Like Jake Gordon (4th or 5th best halfback in Australia) and similarly for Donaldson). The Tahs are all about being able to brag how many Wallabies they have, even if the Wallabies keep losing because of it. Michael Hooper, the worst Wallaby captain in decades a prime example. He made Taine Randall look great.
At least now you are putting up something to back up the moan against Schmidt. The obvious question is why were a combination or a single candidate from this list not named by ARU after Jones? BTW, I don't consider them better than the AB candidates we had on offer but Byrne and Nucifora have coached in NZ - Byrne with the ABs for years.
I will consider such. But I think outliers like Rod Macqueen are difficult to plan for and or identify logically.
But I’ll keep an open mind and include Rod Macqueen in my assessment.
Keep in mind Rod MacQueen never won a Super Rugby title before he was appointed Wallaby coach but he ended up the greatest rugby coach the world has ever seen. Better than Erasmus even. Who is probably the next best.
Some interesting names there. I’ll spend some time researching their coaching credentials and come back with a well thought out response and avoid jumping to irrational conclusions.
Chat later.
Campo , why don't you try Coaching?
Give Schmidt a chance to prove himself. Schmidt is a professional Coach who has done the hard yards. Give him the opportunity to prove himself. At present he's on the right track and getting better all the time. Don't bring the fact that he's a Kiwi, that's irrelevant. What's relevant is getting the best performance and results for rugby and Australia.
The nationality of the coach is important to kiwis and south africans and the french.
Not coincidentally the teams in world rugby who play with the most passion.
Why is it not allowed to be important for Australians ?
Campo is a classic bandwagon hack
Dave Rennie was starting to build up a Wallabies team who were prepared to play for a Kiwi coach, until he was back stabbed by the ARU for Eddie Jones.
No doubt they liked Rennie but a 38% win record is hard to defend.
No he wasn't. The Wallaby team was going backwards. Just as it did under Robbie Deans.
Fair play to Campo for acknowledging Schmidt success, and that he may not have been right about calling for a coaching change.
He was right. We don't want or need a kiwi coaching the Wallabies. End of story.