logo
Schmidt frustrated and relieved after last-gasp win over Fiji

Schmidt frustrated and relieved after last-gasp win over Fiji

Straits Times2 days ago
NEWCASTLE, Australia - Wallabies coach Joe Schmidt felt a mixture of relief and frustration after Australia's last-gasp win over Fiji on Sunday, he said after their only match before the British & Irish Lions series.
Captain Harry Wilson scored the winning try in the 79th minute, but Schmidt felt the Wallabies should have put the match to bed during a dominant first half before Fiji stormed back in the second.
"It was certainly a relief when Harry got over and dotted it down, that's for sure," Schmidt told reporters. "(There was some) frustration to find ourselves in that situation after we built a nice lead early in the game.
"I felt we got a bit loose, and they've got some fantastic broken-field runners. But that was no surprise to us because we knew they had them and we knew we'd have to be better connected than we were."
The Wallabies had two tries disallowed for forward passes that Schmidt conceded were execution errors, but the New Zealander also queried some of the officiating of set-pieces.
Schmidt said that the Wallabies will have to be more clinical against the Lions in the three-test series in late July and August.
"Games are going to ebb and flow and when things are going your way, you've got to make sure that you make the most of those opportunities," he said.
Top stories
Swipe. Select. Stay informed.
Singapore First BTO project in Sembawang North to be offered in July launch
Business High Court orders Instagram seller to pay Louis Vuitton $200,000 in damages over counterfeit goods
Singapore MOH studying 18 proposals to integrate TCM into public healthcare
Singapore TTSH to demolish century-old pavilion wards, keeping one as heritage marker
Asia Malaysian commando dies during military diving exercise off Kuantan coast
Singapore Overlooked 'glass child', the sibling of a special-needs kid
Singapore Red Lions and naval divers join forces for Jump of Unity at NDP 2025
Singapore His world crashed when he got F9 in O-level Tamil but PropNex co-founder Ismail Gafoor beat the odds
Schmidt will name his squad for the Lions series on Friday and thought he would have a better idea of the opposition the Wallabies would face after Andy Farrell names his squad for Wednesday's match against the ACT Brumbies.
While he thought Fiji were still underestimated by many in rugby, Schmidt conceded that the Wallabies had not played well enough to go into the Lions series as anything close to favourites.
"(But) there's a quiet resolve, and that quiet resolve, hopefully, over the three-match series can build to something," he said. REUTERS
Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

Wimbledon changes line-calling system after embarrassing blunder
Wimbledon changes line-calling system after embarrassing blunder

Straits Times

time2 hours ago

  • Straits Times

Wimbledon changes line-calling system after embarrassing blunder

Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox Hawkeye cameras are pictured at the All England Club. LONDON – Wimbledon chiefs have made a change to their electronic line-calling system to remove the possibility of human error after being forced to apologise for an embarrassing operator mistake. Officials apologised to Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova and Sonay Kartal following the malfunction during their fourth-round match on Centre Court on Sunday. After an investigation, organisers admitted the technology was turned off in error on a section of the court for a game, with the mistake only becoming apparent when a shot from Britain's Kartal that clearly missed the baseline was not called out. Responding to criticism of the blunder, All England Club officials have taken away the option of manually turning off ball-tracking. 'Following our review, we have now removed the ability for Hawk-Eye operators to manually deactivate the ball tracking,' the All England Lawn Tennis Club (AELTC) said in a statement to BBC Sport. 'While the source of the issue was human error, this error cannot now be repeated due to the system changes we have made.' Had the call been correct, it would have given Russia's Pavlyuchenkova a 5-4 lead in the first set, but instead umpire Nico Helwerth ruled the point should be replayed, with Kartal going on to win the game. The Russian, who won the match in straight sets, accused the official of home bias, saying: 'Because she is local, they can say whatever. You took the game away from me.' Wimbledon had issued a statement on Sunday saying the system had been 'deactivated in error' for one game by those operating the system. Prior to Wimbledon's announcement of the system change, All England Club chief executive Sally Bolton told reporters on Monday that the technology was 'working optimally'. 'The issue we had was human error in terms of the tracking system having been inadvertently deactivated, and then the chair (umpire) not being made aware of the fact that it had been deactivated,' she said. 'We've spoken to the players, we've apologised to them, we've very quickly moved into reviewing everything that had happened yesterday afternoon and putting in place the appropriate changes to the processes.' A fully automated system has replaced human line judges at Wimbledon in 2025, in line with the Australian Open and the US Open. But the glitch in Sunday's match follows concerns raised by other players about the technology, including British stars Emma Raducanu and Jack Draper. Around 80 former line judges are employed as match assistants, with two on each court offering support to the umpire. But Bolton said there was no need to put them back on the courts. 'The system was functional,' she said. 'It had been deactivated. We didn't need to put line judges back on the court again, we needed the system to be active.' AFP

Sabalenka ready for Siegemund's tricks as Alcaraz faces 'nightmare' Norrie
Sabalenka ready for Siegemund's tricks as Alcaraz faces 'nightmare' Norrie

Straits Times

time14 hours ago

  • Straits Times

Sabalenka ready for Siegemund's tricks as Alcaraz faces 'nightmare' Norrie

Top seed Aryna Sabalenka faces a tricky test against Germany's Laura Siegemund, while Cameron Norrie, the last Briton standing, takes on defending champion Carlos Alcaraz when the Wimbledon quarter-finals kick off on Tuesday. TOP WOMEN'S MATCH: ARYNA SABALENKA V LAURA SIEGEMUND World number one Sabalenka recently called Wimbledon her "dream tournament." But despite reaching the semi-finals twice, the three-times Grand Slam winner has been unable to lift the trophy at the All England Club lawns. This year, the 27-year-old is once again tantalisingly close to achieving her dream, but in the last eight she faces an opponent who has a few tricks up her sleeve. Siegemund, who came into the tournament ranked 104th in the world, did not drop a set and beat sixth seed Madison Keys on her way to the quarter-finals. She is known for her drop shots and slices that often throw opponents off their game. Regarding Siegemund's technique, Sabalenka said: "Especially on the grass ... it slows (the ball) down and you have to stay really low and work with your legs. "It can be tricky, her game style. It's annoying, but I've been facing many tricky players .... I have enough variety to handle the trick shots." Sabalenka, who hoped for "no more upsets" last week as a number of top seeds were knocked out in the first three rounds, will hope not to become the latest and biggest name in the list to be upset by unheralded contenders like Siegemund. TOP MEN'S MATCH: CAMERON NORRIE V CARLOS ALCARAZ Cameron Norrie is the last British singles player still standing in the championships, with Emma Raducanu and Sonay Kartal bowing out at the weekend. The 29-year-old former semi-finalist battled past Nicolas Jarry in a gruelling contest over 4-1/2 hours on Sunday with a win that showed his fighting spirit but drained him physically. The odds will be stacked against the world number 61 when he faces holder Alcaraz. But the Spaniard has said Norrie, who has won two of their last three meetings, is a headache to play. "For me, facing him is almost a nightmare, to be honest. Really tough from the baseline. I'm not surprised he's in the quarter-finals playing great tennis because I've seen him practice," the world number two said. "He's playing at home, as well. So he's going to use the crowd on his side. I have to be really strong mentally and focused to play good tennis if I want to beat him.' The winner will play either American fifth seed Taylor Fritz or Russian 17th seed Karen Khachanov in the semi-finals. REJUVENATED ANISIMOVA SEEKS NEW HEIGHTS Reaching the quarter-finals is a return to familiar territory for Amanda Anisimova, whose form took a dive after she got to this stage at the tournament in 2022. She took several months off due to the tour taking a toll on her mental health. The 13th seed endured two three-set battles to reach the last eight, but the rejuvenated American said her fresh outlook on the grind of professional tennis had armed her to reach for new heights. "Ever since I took my break, I just found this new perspective and this new-found sense of fighting for everything and accepting the challenges that come and embracing them," she said. "A lot of things have changed ... I feel like my professionalism and work ethic has taken a whole 360 (degree turn). Everything is centred around my tennis and how I can prepare the best that I can." Anisimova, who has beaten Pavlyuchenkova all three times they have met, said she had exceeded her expectations with her rise through the rankings and reaching the semis for the first time would seal her return as a major contender on the circuit. WIMBLEDON ORDER OF PLAY ON TUESDAY (prefix number denotes seeding) Centre Court (Play begins 1230 GMT) 1-Aryna Sabalenka (Belarus) v Laura Siegemund (Germany) Cameron Norrie (Britain) v 2-Carlos Alcaraz (Spain) Court Number One (Play begins 1200 GMT) 5-Taylor Fritz (U.S.) v 17-Karen Khachanov (Russia) 13-Amanda Anisimova (U.S.) v Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (Russia) REUTERS

Irish core to strong Lions team for ACT Brumbies clash
Irish core to strong Lions team for ACT Brumbies clash

Straits Times

timea day ago

  • Straits Times

Irish core to strong Lions team for ACT Brumbies clash

Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox Rugby Union - British & Irish Lions v Argentina - Aviva Stadium, Dublin, Ireland - June 20, 2025 British & Irish Lions' Maro Itoje during the warm up before the match REUTERS/Clodagh Kilcoyne SYDNEY - British & Irish Lions coach Andy Farrell has named eight Irishmen in his starting side to face the ACT Brumbies on Wednesday, the tour match for which he was expected to select a line-up close to his first-choice team for the test series. Lock Maro Itoje returns as skipper after being rested for the unconvincing 21-10 victory over the New South Wales Waratahs at the weekend, as does Scottish flyhalf Finn Russell. Russell's compatriot Blair Kinghorn survives from the side that played the Waratahs but will switch from the wing to his more familiar fullback role at Canberra Stadium. The rest of the backline has a distinctive Irish flavour with Garry Ringrose and Bundee Aki in the centres, Jamison Gibson-Park at scrumhalf and James Lowe on the left wing. Specialist number eight Jack Conan will be in the back row with English flankers Tom Curry and Ollie Chessum, while Joe McCarthy will play in the second row with Itoje, and Tadhg Furlong and Dan Sheehan fill out two-thirds of the front row. Young English loose forward Henry Pollock, who was a late withdrawal from the Waratahs game with a calf issue, was named in the replacements as back row cover with Ireland's Josh van der Flier. Australian-born winger Mack Hansen is another of the four Ireland players on the bench and he gets a chance to play against his former club in his home town. Top stories Swipe. Select. Stay informed. Singapore Four golf courses to close by 2035, leaving Singapore with 12 courses Singapore Construction starts on Cross Island Line Phase 2; 6 MRT stations in S'pore's west ready by 2032 Singapore New SkillsFuture requirements from April 2026 to mandate regular training for adult educators Singapore MPs should not ask questions to 'clock numbers'; focus should be improving S'poreans' lives: Seah Kian Peng Singapore Sequencing and standards: Indranee on role of Leader of the House Asia Australian woman found guilty of all counts in mushroom murders case Singapore askST Jobs: Facing intrusive demands from your employer? Here's what you can do Singapore Life After... blazing biomedical research trail in S'pore: Renowned scientist breaks new ground at 59 Farrell said on Saturday that his playmaker son Owen, who was called up last week as an injury replacement for Elliot Daly, would not be considered for the Brumbies match. "In 2013 the Brumbies beat the British & Irish Lions in Canberra and this year they were the leading Australian team in Super Rugby," Farrell, who is on sabbatical from his job as Ireland coach for the tour, said in a team statement. "We are fully aware of the challenge in front of us." Team: 15–Blair Kinghorn, 14–Tommy Freeman, 13–Garry Ringrose, 12–Bundee Aki, 11–James Lowe, 10–Finn Russell, 9–Jamison Gibson-Park, 8–Jack Conan, 7–Tom Curry, 6–Ollie Chessum, 5–Joe McCarthy, 4–Maro Itoje (captain), 3–Tadhg Furlong, 2–Dan Sheehan, 1–Ellis Genge. Replacements: 16–Ronan Kelleher, 17–Andrew Porter, 18–Will Stuart, 19–Josh van der Flier, 20–Henry Pollock, 21–Alex Mitchell, 22–Marcus Smith, 23–Mack Hansen. REUTERS

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into a world of global content with local flavor? Download Daily8 app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store