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

Schmidt frustrated and relieved after last-gasp win over Fiji

Reuters2 days ago
NEWCASTLE, Australia, July 6 (Reuters) - 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.
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.
Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

Footy legend Gorden Tallis is slammed for comparing AFL great Adam Goodes to NRL star who put a little girl in hospital in drug-driving crash
Footy legend Gorden Tallis is slammed for comparing AFL great Adam Goodes to NRL star who put a little girl in hospital in drug-driving crash

Daily Mail​

time41 minutes ago

  • Daily Mail​

Footy legend Gorden Tallis is slammed for comparing AFL great Adam Goodes to NRL star who put a little girl in hospital in drug-driving crash

Footy legend Gorden Tallis has been slammed by fans online after comparing scandal-hit NRL star Ezra Mam to Adam Goodes. In what one supporter labelled 'one of the worst takes', the Queensland cult hero likened the hostile treatment Mam has received in recent weeks to the ugly booing storm that saw Swans champion Adam Goodes walk away from his football career prematurely in 2015. Mam was taunted by fired-up Bulldogs fans last Friday at Accor Stadium - but he silenced the knockers to orchestrate a comeback 22-18 win for the Broncos. The 22-year-old has been targeted by away crowds after serving a nine-match suspension handed down by the NRL. It followed Mam pleading guilty to driving under the influence of illicit drugs without a licence following a car crash that injured three people - including a four-year-old girl - in October last year in Brisbane. Footy fans were seething when Mam was fined $850 and disqualified from driving for nine months by the Brisbane Magistrates Court. No conviction was recorded. While many believe Mam should have been suspended for the entire 2025 NRL season, Tallis has raised eyebrows after his extraordinary take on the pivot's return to the game. 'Ezra Mam is getting an Adam Goodes-style treatment,' Tallis said on Triple M's Sunday Sin Bin. 'No matter what ground he went at, Adam Goodes was targeted for a while and Ezra Mam is getting that now. 'It was coming loud and clear through the television the other night when he played the Dogs. It was every time he touched the ball.' Many footy fans were in disbelief after hearing Tallis's views. 'One of the worst takes you've ever seen,' posted one on X. 'Batsh*t from Gorden Tallis,' said another. 'Tallis is in fact, out of touch with reality,' a third commented. Another pointed out that there's a huge gulf between what Mam did and why Goodes was driven out of the game A third supporter felt Tallis was 'out of touch with reality' In 2015, Goodes famously performed his iconic Indigenous war dance in a match versus Carlton - and was then a constant crowd target at Swans' away games. Two years earlier, Goodes was targeted by a teenage Collingwood supporter who called him an ape - and chaos followed. As the saga intensified, Goodes - a two-time Brownlow Medallist and dual premiership winner - felt the game didn't support him. Goodes then retired in 2015, and has chosen to distance himself from the sport ever since. 'He's living his best life. We miss him, we love him and hopefully at some point we will get to see him again,' former teammate and Swans board member Michael O'Loughlin said recently. 'He loved the game... Adam should have walked out a hero and the fact he didn't is a real indictment on us.'

Grieving Cameron Munster to make late dash to Maroons camp ahead of Origin decider
Grieving Cameron Munster to make late dash to Maroons camp ahead of Origin decider

The Guardian

time4 hours ago

  • The Guardian

Grieving Cameron Munster to make late dash to Maroons camp ahead of Origin decider

A 'pretty upset' Maroons captain Cameron Munster will return to camp barely 24 hours before this year's State of Origin decider following the death of his father over the weekend, as he continues to deal with the emotional toll. Munster left his teammates on Sunday to return to Rockhampton to spend time with his mother and sister after his father Steven suddenly passed away, and 18th man Reece Walsh deputised for the five-eighth in one of the Maroons' most important pre-match training sessions. Munster – who was named player of the match in his first game as Queensland captain in Game 2 – will return for the Maroons' final training on Tuesday afternoon, although coach Billy Slater revealed he may not take part. 'He's been pretty upset over the last couple of days, but the last couple of days he's been where he's needed to be,' he said. Despite the tragic circumstances, Slater said he hadn't considered a contingency in case his captain could not play, but warned there was 'not a switch' for Munster to flip in order to focus on the match. 'There was a fair bit of uncertainty with Mun [Munster] on Sunday morning when I was sitting in his room, but the one thing he was certain about is he was playing on Wednesday night,' Slater said. 'He didn't have a lot of answers for a lot of other things, but he gave that one to me pretty straight.' The coach said the squad's senior players have stepped up in Munster's absence in a 'sad and sombre' camp, and the entire team was likely to get a 'huge boost' given what they have seen their captain endure. Slater, whose father Ron died in January, said there was not much he could tell Munster, his former teammate at the Storm. 'There's no real words that fix any of this,' he said. The passing of Munster's father has tempered the usually fiery build up for a State of Origin decider. Blues coach Laurie Daley said he wasn't sure how the Maroons would react, but expressed sympathy for the Munster family. 'You just realise how life can change pretty quickly, and there's more meaningful things than a game of footy, and I think that puts it all into perspective,' Daley said. NSW halfback Nathan Cleary is managing a groin injury and will not kick goals for the Blues, and Daley has said Zac Lomax – who kicked two from five in game two – will keep the job. The coach confirmed winger Brian To'o and prop Payne Haas would both take the field at Accor Stadium in Sydney on Wednesday night. To'o trained with the team on Monday despite a knee complaint picked up two weeks ago against Canterbury. He was wearing a compression bandage around his left knee when he went walking with his teammates at Homebush on Tuesday morning. Haas has been managing a back injury, and staff had planned for him to prepare on restricted duties. Captain Isaah Yeo said they have both earned the right to play despite not being fully fit. 'Payne and Biz [To'o] have been question marks, but that's been normal for them the whole campaign so far,' he said. 'Payne was our man of the match in Game 1, and Biz was our man of the match in Game 2, so off the back of those performances you trust them.' The Blues are hoping to retain the shield after they defeated Queensland in last year's decider in Brisbane.

Nick Kyrgios reveals stunning plan to hold 'battle of the sexes' tennis match against world No.1 Aryna Sabalenka
Nick Kyrgios reveals stunning plan to hold 'battle of the sexes' tennis match against world No.1 Aryna Sabalenka

Daily Mail​

time4 hours ago

  • Daily Mail​

Nick Kyrgios reveals stunning plan to hold 'battle of the sexes' tennis match against world No.1 Aryna Sabalenka

Nick Kyrgios has revealed he and three-time Grand Slam champion Aryna Sabalenka are planning to stage a battle of the sexes exhibition match this year - with two major rule changes to make the clash more difficult for him. Kyrgios, a Wimbledon men's singles finalist and outspoken commentator, has left fans buzzing about his plans to take on the world No.1 female player. 'Sabalenka and I are thinking about doing a battle of the sexes later in the year,' he told Talk Sport. 'Where the court is going to be slightly smaller [at Sabalenka's end], for me with one serve... 'I'm playing on a slightly smaller than the usual tennis court.' The Australian said the match, inspired by 1973's infamous 'battle of the sexes' tennis match between Billie Jean King and Bobby Riggs, will likely take place in Hong Kong later in the year. 'I'm really nervous about it, to be honest, she's in her absolute prime right now,' he said. 'And she's getting the wooden legs [version] of me - but I'm still feeling confident that I can get her. 'I think I've still got enough variation and talent in the tank to take Sabalenka, but she's fierce and I'm feeling nerves right now.' The original 'battle of the sexes' match in 1973, was one of biggest media events of its day and King's impressive victory was widely credited with striking an impressive blow for the women's liberation movement. Despite being 55 at the time, retired tennis champ Bobby Riggs was expected to comfortably beat Billie Jean King, then 29 and the world's No. 2 female player. Four months earlier, Riggs had easily dispatched with the women's No. 1 Margaret Court. Instead, Riggs lost 6-4, 6-3, 6-3 to King before a stunned audience of 30,472 fans at the Houston Astrodome. It's still the largest crowd in to ever attend a tennis match in the USA and millions more were watching on TV. The outcome has repeatedly been dogged by claims it was fixed or the result was thrown, something Riggs repeatedly denied until his death in 1995. Sabalenka, 27, is an intense competitor and one of the most expressive players in the game. But Kyrgios says she is very different off the court. 'When she is on the court she is incredibly intense, she is fierce, she has a big game. She is almost scary,' he said. 'But off the court she is gentle. She came on my podcast and I really got to know and connect with her at a human level and she is really funny, she is nice and she was telling me that she wanted to change that perception.

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