Rugby-Sleepless nights ahead for Schmidt as first Lions test looms

The Star

3 days ago

Rugby Union - Autumn Internationals - England v Australia - Allianz Stadium Twickenham, London, Britain - November 9, 2024 Australia head coach Joe Schmidt before the match Action Images via Reuters/Andrew Boyers
SYDNEY (Reuters) -Wallabies coach Joe Schmidt woke up on Monday morning to reviews of his team's last-gasp win over Fiji that ranged from lukewarm to savage and the knowledge that the first test against the British and Irish Lions was only 12 sleeps away.
Despite dominating all but the last minute of the first half, Australia trailed the Pacific islanders by four points going into the final couple of minutes before skipper Harry Wilson wrestled his way over the line to snatch a 21-18 win.
Schmidt accepted it was not a display that would have the Lions camp quaking in their boots and conceded he had a "myriad" of things to keep him awake at night over the next two weeks.
"We haven't been together for six months, and to have five trainings and to be seamless would be an expectation that I hoped for, rather than believed would immediately happen," the New Zealander told reporters in Newcastle.
"So now we have another short runway to try to improve from where we were today."
Injuries are always high on the list of concerns for coaches and particularly for Schmidt given the paucity of experienced players in key positions he was bequeathed when he took over a year ago.
Noah Lolesio, the flyhalf Schmidt has started in 13 of the 15 tests in his time in charge, left the field on a stretcher and was taken to hospital after suffering whiplash when he slammed his head on the turf in a tackle.
Schmidt did not rule out calling up an experienced playmaker when he names his squad for the Lions series even if he felt 17-cap replacement flyhalf Ben Donaldson had done a decent job.
"If you have a look what Ben Donaldson did, I'm not sure that he didn't do exactly what was needed to do," he said.
"He put us into the corner. He did what was needed to make sure that we were in the game at the end and got the game done."
EXTRA MUSCLE
Australia blew two strong attacking positions against Fiji when they were pinged for inaccurate lineout throws, so a concussion suffered by hooker Dave Porecki will be another worry for Schmidt.
A bigger overall concern will, perhaps, be how the Fijians took control of the match in the second half once they got their big, backline ball-runners firing.
But for the inaccuracy of some of the Fijian play and the idiosyncrasy of some of the officiating, the visitors could easily have been out of sight by the time Wilson touched down.
The absence through injury of hulking lock Will Skelton and standout loose forward Rob Valetini did not help and Schmidt will be hoping to have them both fit to face the Lions in Brisbane on July 19.
Fiji's Australian coach Mick Byrne thought that with a bit of extra muscle up front the Wallabies could compete with the Lions.
"I think there's a couple of key players missing today," he said.
"The Lions are going to be an attritional team. I think if they can hang in there, in those attritional parts of the game, their outside players can be pretty exciting."
(Reporting by Nick Mulvenney, editing by Peter Rutherford)