Schmidt feels the heat as Aussie critics round on former Ireland boss

It’s been a rough few days for Joe Schmidt. 

The fallout from the opening Test loss at Brisbane has been fierce in Australia. The Wallabies were overpowered at Suncorp Stadium and the 27-19 scoreline flattered the hosts. 

Schmidt has copped it from ex-players, pundits and supporters for numerous errors in judgement, be it preparation, selection or tactics. 

The Kiwi is famed for his attention to detail. Schmidt’s forensic analysis was the stuff of legend during his time with Leinster and Ireland. No stone was ever left unturned. 

But Schmidt has been in the firing line for what many observers believe was shoddy preparation before this eagerly-anticipated Test series. 

One prominent Australian journalist dubbed Schmidt ‘Sleepy Joe’ for his decision to call up Wallaby Test veteran James O’Connor at the 11th hour after regular fly-half Noah Lolesio suffered a serious neck injury against Fiji.

O’Connor, who played all three Tests against the Lions in 2013, has enjoyed something of a late career revival with the Crusaders in New Zealand. To many Australians, having the 33-year-old in the camp was a no-brainer. Schmidt didn’t feel that way, instead backing the home-based No10s in his squad.

When O’Connor was belatedly brought into the Wallabies squad, it was too late to get him up to speed to face the Lions. It’s the reason why 22-year-old rookie Tom Lynagh was pitched in for his first Test start. 

Lynagh did well in difficult circumstances but O’Connor or Western out-half Ben Donaldson have been widely tipped to start the second Test in Melbourne on Saturday. 

Staying on the subject of bizarre calls, Australia’s build-up to this series has been perplexing. The hosts were clearly rattled by the intensity of Andy Farrell’s side, especially their suffocating blitz defence and ferocious commitment at every ruck. 

The hosts looked rusty. No wonder, given their sole warm-up game was against Fiji in Newcastle two weeks before the opening Test. The fact that Schmidt gave the players four days off after that narrow win was another head scratcher. 

The Wallabies will play a whopping 15 international matches in 2025 and that mini-break was seen as a way to keep the frontliners fresh ahead of what will be a gruelling campaign. 

Still, it did them no favours on Saturday. Why Australian rugby chiefs were only able to secure just one warm-up game in the schedule was another clanger. It was dreadfully poor preparation. The top brass had 12 years to prepare for the arrival of the Lions. Schmidt can’t take the brunt for every bad call.

However, the New Zealander needs to take responsibility for getting some key selections wrong. While Farrell won widespread praise for backing Tadhg Beirne and Tom Curry, his rival head coach didn’t get the balance of his starting line-up right. 

There have been widespread calls for changes this week. Rob Valetini and Will Skelton were sorely missed and both key forwards are set to be back on board at the MCG. 

Valetini has been Australia’s best player for the best two years and the powerful ACT Brumbies backrower will bring a bit of ball carrying ballast to the home ranks, something which was sorely lacking last time out. 

Skelton would be another huge addition but as Ronan O’Gara cautioned last week, the giant La Rochelle lock needs a few games to get up to speed. O’Gara has worked closely with the Wallabies giant for a long time. Still, Skelton – on his day – is a destructive presence.

The Leinster players in this Lions squad know exactly what Skelton can do on a rugby pitch when he’s in the mood. The home side desperately need a bit more oomph in contact. 

Schmidt is poised to beef up his Wallabies pack, with Ulster-bound Angus Bell also set to start while the performances of tighthead Taniela Tupou, second row Lukhan Salakaia-Loto and blindside flanker Seru Uru for the First Nations & Pasifika XV against the Lions on Tuesday will give him further food for thought. 

Former Wallabies captain Michael Hooper has called for Queensland Reds midfielder Hunter Paisami to be recalled after his star turn against the Lions a few weeks ago. 

Paisami’s return would lead to a reshuffle in the Wallabies backline, but Hooper believes it would strengthen the home side’s chances of levelling the series. 

‘You talk about Queensland Reds combination, Hunter at 12. Now Hunter in the Queensland Reds v Lions game was the best performer on the field,’ he said.

‘He was awesome in that game, superb, so you put him straight into 12, Len (Ikitau) to 13, and then you put the big man, Joseph (Suaalii), out onto the wing.’

Deploying Suaalii, the rugby league superstar who had a quiet game in Brisbane, would allow Australia to go after the Lions in the backfield. 

First, the Wallabies will need to fix the breakdown. Whatever about the way he prepared his team or the selection calls he made, Schmidt will be livid with the way his team were outmuscled in the collision zone. That has been this obsessive coach’s USP throughout a trophy-laden career. In Brisbane, Schmidt’s men were blown away at the contact area. Can he fix it in seven days?

His players are sure to be fired up by all the recent criticism, too. Perhaps the most stinging came from former Wallabies full-back Matt Burke, who played a key role in the victorious 2001 series win against the Lions.

Burke felt the home side were too submissive against the Lions, citing the tame reaction to Curry’s poorly-timed tackle on an airborne Lynagh early in the match. 

‘He’s smiling at the end of it because he got a shot on our debutant No.10,’ Burke fumed on the Between Two Post podcast. 

‘My concern was there was no backing up; our blokes should have gone in there to rip and tear, so to speak. You can’t throw a punch and all the rest of it, but he’s got to know he did the wrong thing. 

‘He got up and just got up and walked away, and he thought: “We have the tick of the box for physicality there”.’ 

A rough few days, indeed. Schmidt and the rest of his Wallabies squad have been listening to all the noise in recent days. How the Lions are set to cruise to a 3-0 whitewash. How poor the hosts have been. How their decorated head coach has dropped the ball. How another sobering defeat is on the cards. 

No, Schmidt didn’t deliver one of his coaching masterclasses in game one. People would be foolish to write him off this week, however. Another Joe Show could be in the offing.