Jake Gordon: Australia needed to change and Joe Schmidt hasn’t let us off the hook
He was renowned for his attention to detail during his time on these shores and Waratahs scrum-half Jake Gordon has acknowledged that Joe Schmidt is using a similar approach to try and get the very best out of the Australian rugby team.
After guiding Leinster to four trophies during a memorable spell as head coach from 2010 to 2013, Schmidt enjoyed a six-year stint in charge of Ireland and helped them to secure three Six Nations Championships – including the Grand Slam success of 2018.
He subsequently returned to the international arena as an attack specialist with his native New Zealand before officially taking over as head coach of the Wallabies in March of this year.
Australia have accumulated six victories in the 12 tests they have played under Schmidt to date (including a 42-37 win over England at Twickenham earlier this month) and Gordon feels that he and his wider coaching staff deserve enormous credit for the work they have done with the squad over the past few months.
“He’s very detailed. All the coaching staff are. They’ve done a really good job with preparing us every week,” Gordon remarked at a press conference held at the Radisson Blu Hotel in Dublin’s Booterstown on Tuesday.
“With Joe, like I said, very detailed around the game. We had some behaviours that we needed to change and be consistent with and he definitely hasn’t left us off the hook in those areas. It’s been awesome.
“I think you’re starting to see some of our game coming together and being more consistent throughout that tour. Around how we can retain possession, some of our starter plays in attack and the whole game.
“That goes back to our whole coaching staff, they’re doing a great job preparing us.”
While he was part of the All Blacks backroom team when they defeated Ireland at the quarter-final stages of the Rugby World Cup in France last year, this Saturday’s 150th anniversary Test will see Schmidt facing his former side for the first time as a head coach.
This weekend’s game is also two years on from the last clash between the teams in the Aviva Stadium, when a late Ross Byrne penalty helped Ireland to record a hard-earned 13-10 victory.
The Wallabies pushed hard for a winning try in the closing minutes of that November 2022 encounter, only for Gordon to concede a penalty inside the Irish ‘22’ for incorrectly hitting the maul.
He is hoping for better fortune on this occasion and is also eager to finish off Australia’s latest European tour on a high after the disappointment of losing out to Scotland in Edinburgh last Sunday.
“We believe we’re improving,” Gordon added.
“We’re probably pretty disappointed with the game over the weekend. I thought we, I wouldn’t say went backwards, but definitely weren’t where we thought we needed to be for that game. We really want to finish the tour well.
“It’s a great opportunity this weekend against a really great, strong Irish team to play some really good rugby and we’re excited for the occasion.”wa