After the disaster that was 2023 for the Wallabies, 2024 has started off with some good news with the appointment of Joe Schmidt as Wallabies head coach for the next two years.
Schmidt’s appointment will hopefully herald a new era for the Wallabies as they look to put the disappointment of 2023 in the rear mirror. Curiously, Schmidt will come up against Andy Farrell in the Lions series next year that has added another element to the tour.
Schmidt was most recently with the All Blacks as they made their way to the final of the 2023 World Cup. He was brought on after the shakeup to the All Blacks in 2022 when Ian Foster went close to being sacked after losing to the Irish at home.
Before that he has been with the Auckland Blues after returning home from Ireland, where he took the Irish towards the top end of the rankings. The one disappointment of his Irish reign was never making past the Quarter Finals of the World Cup despite a run of impressive results along the way, including a series win in Australia in 2018 and defeating the All Blacks.
Schmidt is a vastly different character to Eddie Jones and that can only be a good thing. Jones’ abrasive nature didn’t win many fans and the results on the field really didn’t allow Jones to have permission to be that way.
Schmidt, by his own admission, is ‘boring’ but if he starts getting results on the field then he can do whatever he wants.
In between Jones resigning and Schmidt’s appointment, there has been another key appointment in Rugby Australia circles with Peter Horne named to lead the High Performance unit.
Horne and Schmidt have worked together and Horne’s appointment might have lead to a change of heart by Schmidt who decided to throw his hat in the ring for a job that might be deemed a ‘poisoned chalice’ after years of poor results and off-field debacles, including the move to oust Hamish McLennan towards the end of 2023.
Hopefully those up North will see this appointment as a lift the Lions Series needed with a few calls suggesting the tour wasn’t worth it and to tour France or elsewhere instead.
Australians might not know the full Schmidt story but it is one worth following because he has been getting results and that is what Australian rugby needs right now.
