The Wallabies prediction Paul O'Connell has made about Joe Schmidt

Ireland forwards coach Paul O’Connell has said he expects three-time Six Nations winner Joe Schmidt to raise Australia from their slump. Former Ireland boss Schmidt was appointed by the Wallabies in January following Rugby World Cup humiliation which saw them dumped out at the pool stage at France 2023.

The 59-year-old has been installed on a contract until the end of the British and Irish Lions tour next summer and it is not known whether he will remain in the role beyond 2025. O’Connell said he can see elements of Schmidt’s work with Ireland in Australia’s early matches under his leadership.

“We would still do bits and pieces of what he had in place back in the day,” he told RTE. “Everyone is probably doing some kind of version of the same thing at the breakdown anyway but we still have bits and pieces of the language that he used to use. That was a big part of how he coached.

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“He was the first ever coach really that I experienced that was very consistent in how he spoke about various parts of the game and because of that you had real clarity in what was expected in different parts of the game, and the ruck was no different.”

The Wallabies take on Andy Farrell’s Ireland at the Aviva Stadium on Saturday looking to bounce back from their 27-13 defeat to Scotland in Edinburgh. Prior to that they enjoyed victories over England at Twickenham and Wales at the Principality Stadium, as Schmidt has continued to make his mark.

Team Form

Last 5 Games

22 - 19

52 - 17

22 - 19

13 - 23

24 - 25

22 - 19

27 - 13

20 - 52

37 - 42

33 - 13

4

Wins

2

3

Streak

2

16

Tries Scored

16

32

Points Difference

0

4/5

First Try

3/5

4/5

First Points

4/5

4/5

Race To 10 Points

3/5

“He was very clear in how he coached,” said O’Connell. “Coaching had moved on a lot but we were still relying a little bit on emotion at times whereas he was technically very good. Everyone talks about his detail. He has very good teaching principles. He wouldn’t just tell you what he wanted you to do, through the sessions he would actually give you a pathway of how to change the habit or getting better at something. That was a really enjoyable aspect for me.”