Joe Schmidt drafted in to assist Aussie Sevens with Valladolid preparation

Wallabies head coach Joe Schmidt is set to be a busy man for the remainder of his time in Australian rugby, his experience being called upon by Aussie Men’s Sevens coach Liam Barry.

Schmidt brought his coaching experience to the Aussie Sevens program as part of their preparations for round two of the HSBC SVNS World Championship in Valladolid, and believes the crossover that has already occurred between the two programs is just the start.

After finishing in third during the HSBC SVNS World Series regular season, the Aussie Men’s side endured a difficult start to the World Championship in Hong Kong, qualifying for the quarter finals but ultimately finishing in sixth.

The Women made it to the final, but were once again defeated by New Zealand, their Trans-Tasman rivals continuing to dominate their recent head-to-head history.

The environment the Sevens training provides is something Schmidt is keen to make use of, particularly as depth in the Wallabies’ backline grows and options at flyhalf continue to be open.

“I’ve watched from a distance a couple of times before and done a little bit of skill work with a couple of Sevens players in the past couple of years,” Schmidt told reporters late last week.

“This is the first time I’ve come down and been drafted in by Liam to do a little bit, and I enjoy coaching any time I can get the chance.

“One of it is just to demonstrate that they’re a really important part of our high-performance program and the shared resource. Liam, he knows a fair bit about the XVs program as well.

“For me to see some of these players, James Turner, he came for the week’s preparation leading into the [Wellington] Bledisloe Cup Test.

“Some of these guys, we may see them in the future. Dylan Pietsch, Corey Toole, current Wallaby wingers, Darby Lancaster, who’ve all been part of the Sevens program. It’s good to be able to stay in touch and get to know some of these young men.”

Schmidt and Barry have planned to increasingly crossover in their training programs, with both offering opportunities to expand playmaker skillsets and usage of space.

“It’s a great crossover,” Schmidt added.

“Some of that crossover is in the 10-12 guys that are currently playing Super Rugby that came through the Sevens program, or at least spent a year in there.

“They dip their toe in and some of the open spaces, some of the passing, some of the timing and around the collision, they can learn about how to be really efficient there.

“Vice versa, I think some of the Seven boys, they’re all the flying fast guys that still have to be really proficient in that area.”

“Where we can learn from the XVs is most probably around some of the contact points and how brutal you’ve got to be in the contact zone,” Barry echoed.

“Joe knows our program really well, he was in Hong Kong and watched us live.

“It’s always great to get his wisdom and he certainly helped us around a little bit of our contact point [and] ball carrying.

“We’ve got quite a few Wallabies currently that have come through the Sevens program, it’s a real pathway for us to push our players through to Super [Rugby] and Wallabies beyond [that].”

The time in Sevens camp will also provide food for thought for the Wallabies head coach, as he zeroes in his final squad for the inaugural Nations Championship, and he is hoping to see Aussie sides mount a charge in the last three weeks of Super Rugby.

“I’m looking forward to the playoffs in Super Rugby,” Schmidt added.

“We’d love to get three [teams] in there. We’ll do some hubs, training programs with those players who don’t make the playoffs and at the same time, those guys who are in the playoffs, I’m looking forward to seeing them play.

“There’s a fair bit of contest amongst the players and they know that the Wallabies coaches are watching and that decisions will be made over the next couple of months.”

The Aussie Sevens teams will get underway in Valladolid at the end of May, with the women’s side taking on South Africa, Fiji and the United States in Pool B, with the men taking on Kenya, Great Britain and South Africa in Pool A.