Joe Schmidt’s assessment of Wallabies fly-halves after Ireland heartbreak

Wallabies coach Joe Schmidt has praised the performances of fly-halves Carter Gordon and Ben Donaldson against Ireland, highlighting the duo’s influence and game-driving ability despite the heartbreaking 33-31 Nations Championship defeat.

Gordon hadn’t started a Wallabies Test on Australian soil in almost three years, but the playmaker got the chance to wear the No. 10 jersey against the world’s third-ranked side. The 25-year-old put in a 57-minute shift before coming off the field due to cramp.

That change saw Donaldson enter the international arena for the first time since the final Lions Series fixture on August 2 last year. The Wallabies had several playmakers get a run last season, but it was Gordon and ‘Dono’ who got first crack in 2026.

Donaldson had a chance to snatch the win with a difficult penalty attempt in the final play, but that shot at the sticks was pushed wide right. But as Schmidt highlighted post-game, there were other factors that can be looked at as reasons for the loss.

Instead, the coach highlighted the efforts of both Gordon and Donaldson, who stepped up on both sides of the ball. Gordon played well in a new-look halves pairing with Ryan Lonergan before Donaldson combined with Tate McDermott for most of the second half.

“I thought Carter, he split them up the middle. He’s a good running threat. He ran the game, he drove the players around I thought really well. He runs a lot of the play that we create and I thought he did a really good job of it,” Schmidt told reporters.

“I felt for Ben Donaldson, in the second half we didn’t have the ball to play with. We were often defending for long periods and he didn’t get the opportunity to quite open the game up in the same way, but I thought there were a couple of times he did it really well.

“We created space and lost the ball there at one stage when we were five points up where you’d love to get those moments back but [Donaldson has] done a good job in setting the play up for that to happen. I felt he kicked nice and long for a couple of touch finders, when we won those scrum penalties for example, so they were certainly positive parts of it.

“He had to make a tackle in behind the line and it was either he had to make the tackle or they score and he delivered that, Dono, as well. They are things that might get overlooked when you’re looking at a couple of kicks at the end of the game.

“It’s a position that we’re really trying to build.”

Ireland have now won six straight against the Wallabies, with the men in gold last tasting victory back in 2018. The Irish have claimed two Six Nations titles in the years since, and recorded a statement 46-19 triumph over the Wallabies in Dublin last November.

But the Wallabies showed clear signs of improvement on Saturday, giving a record rugby crowd at Sydney’s Allianz Stadium plenty to cheer about. Dylan Pietsch and Jock Campbell touched down for an early try each, as the Wallabies built up a first half lead.

Josh Canham and Ryan Lonergan also got on the scoresheet, before a last-gasp Jamison Gibson-Park five-pointer made it a one-score game at the break. The Wallabies led until the final three minutes when Sam Prendergast kicked the visitors ahead.

“It was a lot better to how we finished the year,” Wallabies captain Harry Wilson said.

“Obviously we’ll judge ourselves on the result but there was plenty of good tonight and the game was there for us tonight and we’re going to try and take a bit of that positive momentum into next week.

“We know what sort of team France are we’re definitely to have to shape up again.”