Sports

Joe Schmidt: ‘The grand slam may still be alive’

Coach Joe Schmidt offers only a wise, wry smile when the outlandish prospect of a first British Isles ‘grand slam’ for the Wallabies in 40 years is broached.

Yet following a dramatic weekend of European rugby, suddenly perhaps the prospect didn’t seem such a distant pipedream after all, even for a pragmatist like him.

“The grand slam may still be alive,” acknowledged Schmidt after his side had, almost miraculously, avoided tumbling at the first of the four hurdles against England at Twickenham, escaping to run out as last-gasp, 42-37 winners.

But we won’t look too far ahead.”

Indeed, he said, he and his coaching staff would be looking only at the next game against Wales at the Principality Stadium on Sunday, up against the side who had dismantled them at last year’s World Cup.

Still, what he saw on TV on Sunday, as Wales lost for the 10th Test in succession – this time 24-19 to Fiji – can surely, secretly at least, only have encouraged the dreamer in the New Zealander.

Doubtless he would never admit to it but the team coached by his Kiwi colleague Warren Gatland looks there for the taking, shambolic at times during their first-ever loss on home soil to the Pacific islanders.

A win in Cardiff, of course, would take the Wallabies halfway to their goal of emulating the Mark Ella-inspired class of 1984, but, even then, Schmidt would only outline the monumental nature of what would come afterwards.

For not only will Australia now have to face a team driven by desperation to avoid a record 11th straight defeat in Cardiff, but then comes a Scotland side who, Schmidt noted, “were really impressive in beating Fiji last week”.

And that was before the Scots even gave world champs South Africa a run for their money for much of Sunday’s clash at Murrayfield, until eventually succumbing 30-15.

Then there’s a reunion with some old friends in Dublin. “I still know some of those Irish guys quite well,” grinned Ireland’s former coach Schmidt. “So we’ll see where we get to there.”

Yet even if the slam is a long way off, there was no question the Wallabies’ epic triumph on Saturday has already transformed the confidence of his squad, as Schmidt reflected: “I’m not sure we’ve turned it around. I think we’re turning.

“Inevitably, progress is never linear, so there’ll be a few peaks and troughs on the way further forward, but I’ve found a really good bunch of people, both in the staff and in the playing group.

“The players can grow confidence in themselves. And I thought some of the s𝓀𝒾𝓁𝓁 exhibited, some of the things we’ve been working really hard on, were certainly visible, which gives us a bit of confidence, certainly gives the players a bit of confidence.

“I think there’s green shoots.”

Related Posts

Christian Horner plantea un problema crítico de GM: “No lo estamos pagando”

El paddock de Fórmula 1 ha estado repleto de rumores sobre la posible entrada de General Motors en el deporte, pero hay muchas preguntas sobre esta iniciativa aquí…

Clasificación de puntos de todos los tiempos de F1: ¿Dónde están Hamilton, Verstappen y Alonso?

La actual generación de pilotos de Fórmula 1 en la parrilla se encuentra entre los que más puntos han conseguido en toda la historia de este deporte, en…

LeBron James On The Discipline Required To Become Great: “You Have To Sacrifice Loved Ones”

LeBron James opened up on the discipline he had to exercise to become great, including sacrificing time with his family. LeBron James is a supremely talented athlete who put…

LeBron James Posts Inspiring Instagram Photo Of Him And Daughter Zhuri James At The Gym Together

Aside from being known as a basketball player and shrewd businessman, LeBron James is notably a family man. LeBron James has never been involved in a scandal related…

LeBron James begged by wife Savannah to stop embarrassing public behavior at WNBA game

LeBron tried to do the right thing but it got on her nerves if “I can’t take you anywhere” was a video, it would be this clip of…

Lakers Superstar LeBron James Send an Emotional Message to His 54-Year-Old Mother Who Brought Him Up Against All Odds

Los Angeles Lakers superstar LeBron James came from the small town of Akron, Ohio. And he was the only son of Gloria Marie James, who worked hard to…

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *