On Thursday Joe Schmidt described coming up against his old team as “awkward”.
By Saturday evening he might find another word more appropriate: embarrassed.
On paper, the opening Bledisloe fixture should be a mismatch.
Rob Valetini is the sole Wallaby who would challenge for selection in the All Blacks’ starting XV and another two – props Angus Bell and Taniela Tupou – would press hard to be in the matchday 23. But that would be more on potential than what they’ve delivered.
Of the All Blacks’ starting XV, 14 featured at last year’s World Cup. So did Tamaiti Williams, Luke Jacobson, Anton Lienert-Brown and Sevu Reece, with the trio coming off the bench at Sydney’s Accor Stadium.
Others like TJ Perenara – the veteran All Blacks halfback – missed last year’s campaign with injury.
That’s the reality staring Schmidt in the face as he prepares to face his old side.
“It’ll be a bit awkward, to be honest,” said Schmidt of his first encounter against his home nation.
“I’ve had a lot to do with some of those players very recently.
“[It’s] probably not that different from going to the World Cup and coaching against Ireland, or even being called in late a couple of years ago for that first Test in Eden Park in that week up against some Irish boys who I’d coached for ten years and you build relationships with those people, you have a lot of respect for those people – and it’s the same with the All Blacks. So, it’s awkward.
“You have a loyalty to the group of men you’re working with at the current time, and players understand that of all people because they go up against each other and then form a team in a national sense as opposed to playing Super Rugby against each other.”
Earlier on Thursday Scott Robertson was asked whether Schmidt had taken on “too big a task?”
The seven-time Super Rugby-winning coach wove his way that potentially tricky question, but nor did he dismiss the merit of the question either.
“I think you’re going to have to ask him that,” Robertson said.
Although the All Blacks have lost three of their past four Tests to find themselves in the unusual position of second last in The Rugby Championship, Robertson’s men could easily be sitting at the top.
A four-point defeat to the Springboks at Ellis Park – one of the toughest venues to play at on the globe – followed by an engrossing six-point loss a week later in Cape Town to the back-to-back world champions reveals how close they came. These are the same Springboks that hammered the Wallabies in Australia in back-to-back Tests.
But unlike Australia, who won three halves against Los Pumas during their tour of Argentina but also returned with an unflattering record loss, close enough isn’t good in New Zealand. Not for a nation that expects to win every Test.
Schmidt, who helped add the finer detail to the All Blacks’ game last year that was previously missing before he joined in 2022, could barely stop lauding their strengths when asked what the non-negotiables were for the Wallabies to pull off the nation’s biggest upset in years.
“I think it starts like it does all the time with set-piece; that’s kick-off, scrum and lineout,” Schmidt said.
“I think our scrum has actually been pretty good until last week. We again didn’t do what we’d expected to do in that game in Santa Fe but our line-out operated well.
“I think you’ve got to stop their lineout more so you’ve got to be able to make sure that you’re really well prepared for that.
“I know they’re a counter-attacking threat, I’ve seen it up close, I’ve even enjoyed it in the past life but we’ve got to make sure that we close their space down and make sure that we don’t give them anything that they can sneak through and play in behind because once they’re in behind you they’ve got, as I mentioned, a lot of firepower to stay and play on top of you.
“They’d be some of them. Turnover ball, I think. They’ve got, in their seven games so far this year, they’ve got a dozen different guys who’ve poached the ball at tackle.
“A lot of times you play a team and you’re worried about two or three guys who are very good over the ball. That’s another weapon that allows them to play off the back of that against destabilised defence. So, again, making sure we look after the ball well, we don’t overplay and dig a hole for ourselves without having support around the ball carrier.
“What did I leave out? Across the board they are a handful, without a doubt.”
It’s a good question, though, what did Schmidt leave out? For his team perhaps tuning in, or the Wallaby fans interested, it would have been interesting hearing about what his side’s strengths were rather than showering the All Blacks in praise.
If, as expected, the All Blacks comprehensively beat the Wallabies, Schmidt will be left with a giant question hanging in the air: how long can he wait before looking abroad?
Although former British and Irish Lions lock Geoff Parling brushed off his former teammates’ shots as pundits trying to fill space, they weren’t exactly far off the mark either. After all, Australia isn’t New Zealand nor is it Ireland.
While the Wallabies will host the Lions next year, they need to put up a fight to ensure they inspire the next generation to want to pull on the gold jersey because they’re increasingly losing that fight.
At present, simply showing up isn’t enough.
