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Former Wallabies centre impressed with Joe Schmidt's progress

Joe Schmidt has to navigate a Lions tour and a Rugby World Cup on Australian soil, so the pressure is on (Photo by Hagen Hopkins/Getty Images)

After a disappointing 2023 Rugby World Cup campaign last year under Eddie Jones, the Wallabies were in desperate need of some stability and improvement in the Wallabies environment.

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Joe Schmidt the former Ireland head coach and assistant coach of the All Blacks during the 2023 World Cup, took over the squad on a 2 year contract up until the 2025 British and Irish Lions tour of Australia.

In 2024, the Wallabies won six games out of thirteen in the first year under Schmidt, which is seen by many as an improvement to the disaster season in 2023.

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Former Wallaby Morgan Turinui has given credit to Schmidt, as he believes the Wallabies have improved significantly under Schmidt.

“I think we’re a better side, probably in July than at the end of the World Cup. The End of the World Cup was the absolute rock bottom,” Turinui said to Martin Devlin on the DSPN Podcast.

“Poor selection, poor environment. Everything came together. One, you’re never as bad as you think you are, and you’re never as good as you think you are, I suppose.”

The 42-year-old sees specific improvements in many areas, like the breakdown and basic rugby skills to simplify the Wallabies gameplan.

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“But I think what Joe Schmidt has done is incrementally improved this team, I’ve seen, a lot of breakdown work, a lot of basic skill work, into our team.” 

“And that group of Wallabies, catch, pass, groundwork and ball presentation, contact skills, especially in their breakdown work.”

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Schmidt has long been touted as one of the smartest attacking minds in international rugby, and Turinui believes the attacking play of the Wallabies in the 2024 campaign has come on leaps and bounds. 

“I think, you know, if you’ve watched a lot of the Wallabies play, you’ll see some of the Joe Schmidt fingerprints around the way they attack, around the way he demands that his wingers work off the ball,” said Turinui. 

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“So you can see that there’s a coherent plan.”

When asked about how long Joe Schmidt will get as Wallabies head coach, Turinui was hesitant to discuss past the British and Irish Lions tour next year, and questioned the amount of time Schmidt will have in the lead-up to that series.

“Well, I think everything about Australia at the moment into this Lions series, which is eight months away now. I think he’ll get two more tests before that series.”

“So he doesn’t have much time. Super Rugby will be interesting as well. So time is definitely running out in terms of the hands-on effect you can have with this team.”

The 20 Test former Wallaby thinks that the team will benefit from the added experience of this year’s campaign, as Joe Schmidt added 19 new caps to the Wallabies.

“The great thing I think he’s done is, as I mentioned, lots of people have been in this wallabies environment. Have got a taste of it. They need to take all those things back and show them during Super Rugby,” said Turinui.

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K
KM 117 days ago

What do you think of that little johnnie from Ballymore?

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fl 8 minutes ago
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“A succession of recent ex-players going straight back into the game as coaches in their early 40’s would prob be enough to kill it stone-dead. Innovation would die a death.”

Would it? I do think one of the major differences between rugby and most other sports - which we’ve been overlooking - is the degree to which players are expected to lead team meetings & analysis sessions and the like. Someone like Owen Farrell has basically been an assistant coach already for ten years - and he’s been so under a variety of different head coaches with different expectations and playing styles.


“The most interesting ppl I have met in the game have all coached well into their sixties and they value the time and opportunity they have had to reflect and therefore innovate in the game. That’s based on their ability to compare and contrast between multiple eras.”

I don’t doubt that that’s true. But having interesting insights doesn’t necessarily mean you’ll be the best able to inspire a team, or the best at managing the backroom staff.


“Wayne Smith winning the WWC in his mid sixties three years ago prob means nothing to you but it meant a lot to him. It took him back to the roots of is own coaching journey.”

I don’t doubt that! But I don’t think coaches should be hired on the basis that it means a lot to them.


“The likes of Carlo Ancelotti and Wayne Bennett and Andy Reid all have a tale to tell. You should open your ears and listen to it!”

I agree! Never have I ever suggested otherwise!

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J
JW 4 hours ago
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Yes that’s what WR needs to look at. Football had the same problem with european powerhouses getting all the latin talent then you’re gaurenteed to get the odd late bloomer (21/22 etc, all the best footballers can play for the country much younger to get locked) star changing his allegiance.


They used youth rep selection for locking national elifibilty at one point etc. Then later only counted residency after the age of 18 (make clubs/nations like in this case wait even longer).


That’s what I’m talking about, not changing allegiance in rugby (were it can only be captured by the senior side), where it is still the senior side. Oh yeah, good point about CJ, so in most cases we probably want kids to be able to switch allegiance, were say someone like Lemoto could rep Tonga (if he wasn’t so good) but still play for Australia’s seniors, while in someone like Kite’s (the last aussie kid to go to France) case he’ll be French qualified via 5 years residency at the age of 21, so France to lock him up before Aussie even get a chance to select him. But if we use footballs regulations, who I’m suggesting WR need to get their a into g replicating, he would only start his 5 years once he turns 18 or whatever, meaning 23 yo is as soon as anyone can switch, and when if they’re good enough teams like NZ and Aus can select them (France don’t give a f, they select anybody just to lock them).

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JW 4 hours ago
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The only benefit of the draft idea is league competitiveness. There would be absolutely no commercial value in a draft with rugby’s current interest levels.


I wonder what came first in america? I’m assuming it’s commercial aspect just built overtime and was a side effect essentially.


But the idea is not without merit as a goal. The first step towards being able to implement a draft being be creating it’s source of draftees. Where would you have the players come from? NFL uses college, and players of an age around 22 are generally able to step straight into the NFL. Baseball uses School and kids (obviously nowhere near pro level being 3/4 years younger) are sent to minor league clubs for a few years, the equivalent of the Super Rugby academies. I don’t think the latter is possible legally, and probably the most unethical and pointless, so do we create a University scene that builds on and up from the School scene? There is a lot of merit in that and it would tie in much better with our future partners in Japan and America.


Can we used the club scene and dispose of the Super Rugby academies? The benefit of this is that players have no association to their Super side, ie theyre not being drafted elshwere after spending time as a Blues or Chiefs player etc, it removes the negative of investing in a player just to benefit another club. The disadvantage of course is that now the players have nowhere near the quality of coaching and each countries U20s results will suffer (supposedly).


Or are we just doing something really dirty and making a rule that the only players under the age of 22 (that can sign a pro contract..) that a Super side can contract are those that come from the draft? Any player wanting to upgrade from an academy to full contract has to opt into the draft?

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Sempéré salue ces joueurs qui préfèrent jouer plutôt que prendre des vacances

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