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Joe Schmidt hoping World Cup hurt will breed new edge in Wallaby mentality
By AAP
New coach Joe Schmidt is warning it will take time for the Wallabies’ scars to heal from Eddie Jones’s ill-fated second coming.
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The former Ireland coach was unveiled at a press conference in Sydney on Friday after agreeing to a two-year deal with Rugby Australia.
Schmidt said the Wallabies’ showings at last year’s World Cup were not reflective of “an Australian team that I recognised” as he sought to temper expectations of an overnight fix.
Jones was heavily criticised for his scattergun selection and his tactics.
The axed Wallabies mentor took a young and inexperienced squad to the World Cup in France while leaving the likes of Quade Cooper and Michael Hooper back home.
Gun centre Len Ikitau was also overlooked and recently expressed his frustration with the communication he received from Jones and his staff before learning he had been dropped.
Australia failed to get out of the group stage for the first time in the World Cup history and Schmidt is hoping that acts as a point of motivation as he bids to revive a side now ranked ninth in the world.
“I’d like to think that they’ll emerge with an experience that they are desperate not to repeat,” said Schmidt.
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“They’ll work hard towards getting that cohesion amongst themselves.
“That’s a really important thing, continuity in selection and performance and the only thing I’d ask is sometimes you’ve got to be patient.
“We’ll have some players who will have been put on the back foot by that.
“What we’ve got in front of us is going to be really challenging, and I’m excited about trying to help those young guys, to try to help them build their confidence.”
Schmidt’s first match assignment will be against Wales in July prior to the Rugby Championship and he was keen to bring emerging homegrown coaches onto his backroom staff.
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The new Wallabies coach said his preference was to prioritise developing players plying their trade in Super Rugby rather than parachuting overseas-based into the national team set-up.
“(With Ireland) we didn’t select anyone who wasn’t contracted in Ireland,” Schmidt said.
“So it’s another one of those questions where I just want to find out a little bit more of what it looks like.
“It would be great if we can select almost entirely from Australia, rather than chase guys from overseas.”
