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Joe Schmidt explains reasoning behind dropping Joseph Suaalii
By PA
Australia head coach Joe Schmidt feels that Wales will be “incredibly hard to beat” in Sunday’s Autumn Nations Series encounter at the Principality Stadium.
The odds favour a Wallabies win following their thrilling victory over England last time out, while Wales have lost a record-equalling 10 Tests in a row.
“Obviously, this time last year, Wales put 40 points on the Wallabies (in the World Cup),” Schmidt said.
“They got very close to a number of teams in the Six Nations, losing by one score to England and Scotland, as well as Fiji last week.
“I am expecting them to be incredibly hard to beat. They are dogmatic with the way they go about their defensive work and are very hard to break down.”
Asked about Wales being under pressure, Schmidt added: “You live in this bubble, really. I am too busy worrying about our team.
“It’s funny, I feel under more pressure than I was last week.
“Last week, no one expected us to win. Suddenly, when expectations shift and you are up against a team that are on a losing run, you are expected to win.
“But it doesn’t actually mean anything in terms of the players running out and getting the job done. I think everyone feels pressure.”
Schmidt has made six changes from the side that accounted for England, including exciting midfield prospect Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii moving out of the starting XV and joining Schmidt’s replacements.
Samu Kerevi replaces Suaalii, while prop Allan Alaalatoa starts as captain with Harry Wilson being sidelined due to concussion.
Wilson’s absence from the back-row means a first Test start for flanker Seru Uru, with Rob Valetini moving across to number eight, while lock Will Skelton, scrum-half Nic White and wing Max Jorgensen also feature.
On Suaalii, Schmidt added: “We have only got three midfielders with us, and it is about sharing the load between the three guys.
“It was a whirlwind for Joseph for the last two weeks, so for him just to be able to take a breath and watch a bit of the game before entering, it is a great opportunity for us to change it up if required.
“There was that temptation to keep him there to a degree.
“Anybody who plays four consecutive Tests against the ranked countries we are up against, that’s a big challenge for anybody, particularly playing the full 80 minutes.”
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Well the other idea I had been toying with which I think is still used in football, is something like each pool winners of the Challenge Cup gets entry into the round of 16 etc (or whateveer equivalnt entry point we can come up with) in the Champions Cup.
Those T2 sides could play a pool or some simple comp with the bottom dwellers (that was actually something else I liked in Jones structure, he left out 2 English sides alltogehter, 4+4-2), and then come into the Challenge Cup when those top4 sides go up?
That idea just helps keep a nice balance for me. I like both comps having exactly the same structure, and raising 4 or so T2 sides requires that to break in some manner.
Neither. You have a situation where like the Stormers lose to la Rochelle in Ro16 but lose out to a lower performing league team in Benneton (5th place v 7th) just because they made it to the semis of Challenge Cup.
Go to commentsWalter has been permanently psychologically damaged since his wife left him and moved in with a man from Sydney.
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