Wallabies coach Joe Schmidt believes his experience with the All Blacks works both ways as he urges Super Rugby clubs to show consistency in the final weeks of the season.
After spending the past two years as an assistant with the New Zealand national team, Schmidt joined the Wallabies in March with the task of bringing Bledisloe back to Australia.
Watch every Super Rugby Pacific game LIVE, ad-free and on demand on Stan Sport.
New Zealand-born Schmidt has strong links with the majority of his coaching group under Scott Robertson, believing they can be both a blessing and a curse,
“It’s a conundrum you face every time you change (jobs) and with the amount of transitions that happen in International or in club rugby, you often face your friends somewhere along the line,” he told reporters.
βI don’t think I have a huge amount of IP but I have a lot of experience after 20+ years of professional coaching and what I know about the All Blacks, the All Blacks also know a lot about me.
“…My real motivation to try and help was when Peter Horne called me, I really believe we need to be as strong as we can in this corner of the world and that’s a corner we share with the All Blacks and New Zealand. not a corner where we can live in isolation.
“One of the ways to help each other is to try to be as competitive as we can be against each other to increase the performance of both teams.”
Schmidt is pleased with the competitiveness of the Australian teams in the Super Rugby Pacific, already recording more wins over their Kiwi counterparts than in previous seasons.
However, he understands the importance of backing up each week with the Wallabies needing to win both games in Sydney and Wellington to reclaim the elusive trophy.
“It’s probably fluctuated like Bledisloes over the last couple of years where we’re competitive one week and that hasn’t necessarily materialized to be competitive the next week. I think getting that consistency in performance is really important
βYou saw what happened with the Brumbies in Auckland and what they did at the weekend and that’s a fantastic example of the variation and performance that comes through and trying to build consistency will be a challenge.
βI think the Blue and Red game at the weekend was a fantastic game for a neutral fan because of the excitement there and it was fantastic the way the game went down.
βI think it’s just being able to nail those big moments and finish those games as well, which has been a challenge for the Wallabies in recent years. I don’t necessarily have the answer, but I’ve had experiences with teams where they haven’t overcome those moments and it’s about trying to build your mindset where you can stay process-driven in those times.”
With talk continuing around the future of the Rebels and potential players heading overseas, Schmidt was fueled by the next batch of talent already thriving in Super Rugby.
The national coach was in the stands in Brisbane to watch 20-year-old Reds speedster Tim Ryan score a hat-trick of tries on his opening Super Rugby Pacific debut last round.
“We definitely want people to stay here and be part of the Wallabies organisation,” Schmidt said.
βBut I love it when someone isn’t available and suddenly we reveal a kid.
β(Ryan) didn’t just hit those tries, he finished them off really well and especially the third, his leg.
“If we lose people, we’re disappointed and we don’t want that to happen, but if we do, my mindset is, ‘Right, let’s get this guy and make a combination and move on.’