1
Joe Schmidt 'a little bit intimidated' ahead of brutal 12-game Wallabies run
By AAP
With much unfinished business to tend to, Joe Schmidt has detailed the immense challenges confronting the Wallabies as he plots to secure Australia an all-important top-six seeding for the 2027 home Rugby World Cup.
ADVERTISEMENT
The Wallabies have 12 Test matches between July and November in which to claw their way from eighth in the international rankings to inside the top six before the World Cup draw takes place, likely in December.
A top-six seeding will ensure the Wallabies head up one of the six four-team pools for the quadrennial global showpiece in Australia.
Topping their group will be critical in ensuring the tournament hosts avoid the likes of defending champions South African or fellow heavyweights New Zealand, Ireland or France early in the 16-team knockout stages.
Rugby Australia’s director of high performance Peter Horne laid bare the importance of the Wallabies’ 2025 campaign, which starts against Fiji in Newcastle on July 6.
“We really have got a job to do now,” Horne said at RA’s unveiling of Les Kiss as Schmidt’s successor next year.
“We’ve got 18 Test matches, got a (British and Irish) Lions series, a TRC, a Bledisloe (Cup series), a really important spring tour.
ADVERTISEMENT
“If we don’t get into the top six, it puts us in a difficult frame for a pool draw for ’27.
“So we’ve got such a heavy plan ahead that we’ve got to deliver on that.”
The Wallabies slumped to an all-time low of 10th in the world, behind even Italy and Fiji, after claiming last year’s Rugby Championship wooden spoon and being condemned to a record 67-27 loss to Argentina in Santa Fe.
But a rousing win over England at Twickenham and victory over Wales have since lifted Schmidt’s side back to eighth in the rankings.
Three matches against the Lions, after the Test opener against Fiji, won’t count towards world rankings points.
But any wins – or defeats – over the Springboks, All Blacks and Pumas during the Rugby Championship will be vital before Australia’s seeding fate will likely be determined during spring-tour Tests against Japan, England, Italy, Ireland and France.
ADVERTISEMENT
Adding to the degree of difficulty in picking up precious rankings points are back-to-back Tests against the top-ranked Springboks in South Africa in six days.
“I’m a little bit intimidated by the challenges coming up – three Lions Tests and then you’re on a plane to play on the highvelt against South Africa,” Schmidt said.
“All that is a bit intimidating but, geez, what a great challenge.
“We’ve inched our way up those world rankings. Our challenge is to keep working our way up those rankings by being competitive and I don’t think we want to get distracted by outcomes.”
WALLABIES’ 2025 TEST PROGRAM:
v Fiji, Newcastle, July 6
v British and Irish Lions, Brisbane, July 19
v British and Irish Lions, Melbourne, July 26
v British and Irish Lions, Sydney, August 2
v South Africa, Johannesburg, August 17
v South Africa, Cape Town, August 23
v Argentina, Townsville, September 6
v Argentina, Sydney, September 13
v New Zealand, Auckland, September 27
v New Zealand, Perth, October 4
v Japan, Tokyo, October 25
v England, London, November 2
v Italy, November 9, venue TBC
v Ireland, Dublin, November 16
v France, November 23, venue TBC
Watch USA Eagles Women v Canada Women live and for FREE on the RugbyPass app. Friday 2 May. Kick-off 20:30 EST/17:30 PST/ 01:30am BST
I flagged this issue before.
It is not just the danger of facing a big team in the round of 16: you might also get one of them in your pool. That would be two extra massive matches. No team in that scenario is winning any world cup. Its as simple as that.
Currently Argentina are 5th, England 6th, Scotland 7th and Australia 8th. With a spread of 3.5 ranking points between those 4.
Playing SA first in the Rugby Championships is not bad as it means losing points at the right time. They must beat Argentina twice in subsequent matches and will gain more there, assuming they lose in SA. They have England away and may need to win that and another high value win over: NZ in Perth, Ireland in Dublin or France in Paris will certainly help.
Some sympathy for 7th placed Scotland is required. Scotland were eliminated in Pool stage in 2019 and as rankings were frozen at end of RWC 2019 for RWC 2023 draw, Scotland were ranked 9th. They made massive progress to be ranked 5th before 2023 but it didn’t count and they were drawn in their group of death with Ireland and SA and more or less eliminated by the draw. Compare with England who were terrible between world cups but were top 4 ranked in 2019 which gave them a quarter final against Fiji in 2023 to make a semi final.
The swing in ranking points between Scotland to England before and after RWC 2023 was a massive 6.5
Scotland should be sitting comfortably in 5th but are now 7th and will struggle to make top6. If they don’t make top 6 and get an unlucky draw they could be out at the last 16 stage. In other words the farcical draw in 2023 means that Scotland are still being punished for their showing in RWC 2019 and this may last at least until 2027.
I hope for Justice sakes they make the top 6.
What do you mean “flagged this issue”, there’s no issue in this article/situation. Trying to raise your seeding is not an issue, this is a really cool dynamic that most countries don’t pay attention to. It really should have had a much higher profile of engagement in the past.
I didn’t think you lose points against SA? This post is complete plop RW.
Fair points…the seeding being a lot closer to the RWC this time should iron out some of those unfortunate match ups. There have always been pools of death though.
Be interesting to see how the new format goes with more pools and a round of 16. Might mean Ireland finally wins a knockout game too.
Scotland does not deserve any sympathy. They played poorly in this seasons Six Nations. That’s on them.