Carter Gordon ruled out of Wallabies’ clash with France

Following the lead of England, Ireland targeted the Wallabies with contestable kicks at Aviva Stadium and Australia’s inability to defuse them – or trouble Ireland with their own kicking game – was a major factor in the 46-19 loss.

But the Wallabies believe Dublin was more of an off night than a disturbing pattern, and in chilly Paris they’d been both training the requisite skills and reminding themselves of their aerial strengths.

“You guys see the product on the weekend, which obviously wasn’t to our standard, but we’ve been working really hard all year,” Pietsch said.

“We’ve been really good in that area and we’ve had games where we’ve been really poor, but it’s just about sticking to the process. It’s not like we can’t catch high balls, it’s just we had a bad day.

“Now it’s a one-on-one battle, we have to be a lot more confident in yourself and commit to it and I think we’ll do that this week.”

Jake Gordon said the Irish successfully used different kickers, and kick styles, in Dublin but also stressed the Wallabies had been solid under contestable kicks in previous Tests.

“You’ve got to think back to the week before, I think we put up five contestables and got four of the five back,” he said.

“It’s something that we’ve definitely seen as a strength throughout the year. Lions game three, Lions game two, some of the South Africa games, we’ve actually trended pretty well. But yeah, disappointed with the Ireland game.”

Schmidt said World Rugby were behind the rise in contestable kicking, with referees allowing slow rucks (which lead to teams kicking to reduce risk) and also cracking down on obstruction on chasers.

“So they’re driving a game that is more leaning toward a kicking game, and so we’ve got to be really good at both the kicking part of it so that we can get into contests, and then on the receiving part of it,” he said.

Piestch’s return will help given his strength in the air, and despite middling form, Harry Potter has retained Schmidt’s faith because he is statistically the Wallabies’ best under the high ball.

Accentuating the positives of the Wallabies’ last three losses has also been a focus for Schmidt, who said his recipe for picking players up after defeats is to show confidence in them and “show them how they’ve done it before and how they can potentially do it again”.

Schmidt pointed out the Wallabies had been in winning positions at the 60-minute mark in all three defeats, before scores blew out as they chased the games.

“You go back to the England game, it was 10-7 well into that second half and we had a couple of good incursions into the 22, both of which we spilt the ball on, which is really disappointing,” he said.

“Same with the Ireland game, at halftime [the score was] 19-14. Even with five minutes to go, it’s actually 32-19 and if we score next, you’re within a score of them.

“Those are moments that if we can … put enough options around them that they go our way, I definitely think if we can be in the game through that first 60 minutes, and I know how determined the players are to finish strong on this tour.”

The Wallabies’ ability to score second-half points has dwindled in the last six Tests, however; falling from over 15 per game in the first half of the year to under five points since the Bledisloe Cup series.

Wallabies coach turns to rookie halfback for France Test

Schmidt has given debuts to Corey Toole, Nick Champion de Crespigny, Aidan Ross and Ryan Lonergan this season and introduced 19 new Wallabies last season. Lonergan drops out to make way for Thomas.

Schmidt said Brumbies halfback Lonergan had been involved in the decision to give his teammate a first opportunity with the Wallabies.

“Lonners [Lonergan] was part of the decision as well [to pick Thomas], the great thing in the group is that everyone is very supportive of each other,” Schmidt said.

“Immediately, Ryan is going through things with Kalani, but Kalani’s trained for five weeks with us and he’s trained incredibly well.

“He’s got a sharpness about him and I think he deserves an opportunity to demonstrate that. It’s a tough place to debut, but if we don’t do it now, he’s just spent those five weeks with us, then he has to reintegrate himself again in the future.”

Thomas brings a sniping threat from the bench in the mould of his injured Reds teammate Tate McDermott, offering a contrast with starting halfback Gordon.

Ahead of a sell-out Stade de France, Schmidt spoke of the frustration he has felt in Europe.

“I’ve found it [the Spring tour] really frustrating to be honest, just because I do see that improvement in some of the players for sure and when improvement isn’t rewarded, there’s frustration,” Schmidt said.

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“It’s frustrating to go through a learning period and not to have the apparent reward that a result gives you.

“I know how hard the players are working and what it means to them and they are frustrated that they feel like they’ve let supporters down…”

“This week we didn’t train on Monday at all, we try to cut our cloth to how people are feeling.

“You cannot flog a dead horse, I have never, ever been in a Test window for so long. I think the longest period that they’ve had a break for was eight days since we started. I think as much as anything it’s mental, emotional fatigue as much as it is physical.”

Schmidt is confident Carter Gordon has recovered from his quad strain and said he would have liked to have kept James O’Connor with the squad, but it would have been a ‘luxury’ given Gordon’s recovery.

“It would have been great to keep James [O’Connor] with us, but with Carter and Tane and Hamish there to cover, it was an extra player that would have been a luxury,” Schmidt said.

“Particularly, I was pretty keen for him to feel comfortable, he’s only just settling into Leicester… and he’s back with the intent to keep building his game and he certainly has always displayed a real passion to play for the Wallabies and that hasn’t gone away.”

Schmidt also said he doesn’t believe O’Connor’s Wallabies career is over despite leaving the squad after the Ireland defeat.

“I thought Johnny Sexton was outstanding in the [2023] World Cup and James won’t be as old as Johnny was at that stage, so I think age is probably not one of the numbers that necessarily tips the balance,” Schmidt said.

After the Wallabies’ lineout malfunctioned last Saturday with six missed throws, Nick Frost and Jeremy Williams are reunited in the second row, with Tom Hooper restored to his strongest position as blindside breakaway and Rob Valetini on the bench.

Frost and Williams will face Emmanuel Meafou, the Australian-raised second-rower who returns for France.

The Wallabies’ last full training session of the season in Paris included a future teammate of Tupou’s with 19-year-old Racing tighthead prop Lehopa Leota, who has already played three times in Top 14 and will be qualified to play for France.

The invitation of six young Australian French-based players to training is part of a Rugby Australia strategy to actively engage with the diaspora, which includes at least 21 individuals spread across the Top 14’s best clubs.

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