Schmidt doubles down on message to fans after Wallabies’ defeat to Ireland

Joe Schmidt urged Wallabies supporters to keep the faith after the team’s shock 26-19 loss to Italy in Udine, and the world-renowned coach doubled down on that message after Saturday’s 46-19 defeat to Ireland in the Quilter Nations Series.

“Don’t lose faith,” Schmidt said after Australia’s sixth loss in eight Tests just over a week ago. That record has since extended to seven defeats from nine matches following a trip to Dublin, with the Irish piling on the points during a second-half blitz at the Aviva Stadium.

It was a one-score game at the break after a Fraser McReight try, with the Wallabies believing in their ability to shock one of the world’s best sides. After a tense start to the second 40, the Irish took control, with playmakers Sam Prendergast and Jack Crowley leading the way.

Prendergast opened the scoring in the second half with a drop goal, before Crowley added a penalty a few minutes later. Caelan Doris, Ryan Baird and Robbie Henshaw crossed for a try each, following a first-half hat-trick from Australia-born Ireland outside back Mack Hansen.

After beating the British & Irish Lions and Springboks in August, the Wallabies have only won two Tests, which were against Los Pumas and the Brave Blossoms. While positive results have proven hard to come by in that period, Schmidt has called on Australian sports fans again to believe.

“I just ask the same of them,” Schmidt told reporters.

“We are working hard. Tiredness isn’t an excuse. We have to put an 80-minute performance out there. We can’t be 22-14 down and collapse like we did tonight.

“The yellow card certainly made things more difficult, especially if you’re trying to overplay at that stage when you’re a man down, there’s always going to be a bit of space somewhere… once you’ve got that yellow card, you’ve got to be able to adjust and play well enough with 14.”

Australia started their international season with a last-gasp win over Fiji in Newcastle, with captain Harry Wilson scoring a decisive try in the dying stages. That was their only fixture before the three-Test series against the British & Irish Lions.

The second Lions Test was a thriller at the MCG, with the Wallabies falling in heartbreaking circumstances before bouncing back the next week. Australia won in Sydney and then shocked the two-time defending World Cup winners South Africa in Johannesburg.

Fast-forward a few months and the Wallabies have just one more game left in a gruelling 15-Test international season, which is against France in Saint-Denis. As Schmidt explained, the Wallabies have been “written off” before in 2025, but this team has plenty of fight in them.

“We’ve proven really competitive with the biggest teams in the world,” Schmidt said.

“We’re two points down with 10 to go against the All Blacks, going to Ellis Park [and] getting that win, getting the win against the Lions in the third Test.

“We’ve proven that at the top end we can compete, it’s just developing that strength and depth, that does take time. There are players who were missing tonight but there are players who are developing on the back of tough experiences.

“I’d have to say that there were tough days when I first arrived at Leinster… and you still end up as European champions at the end of that year.

“I’m convinced that with the commitment these players show, they are a really good group of young men and they’re going to keep learning.

“The question round what we are asking of the Australian public, we can’t demand anything on the back of what we did in the last 10 minutes tonight but I’d hope they’d look across the whole game and just see ow hard some of those players were working and try to project that forward.”