Wallabies are making gains, but need wins to capitalize on the coming golden decade | Australia rugby team

TThe art of simplicity is a puzzle of complexity. After nine months and nine tests in charge of the Wallabies, Joe Schmidt has put a few pieces in place on the way to finding the big solution that Australian rugby has lost sight of over the past 25 years. But a 4-5 win-loss season makes it clear to everyone that nasty holes remain both on and off the field.

Australia started 2024 by beating Wales twice and Georgia once in Tests at home. They then lost the Bledisloe Cup and finished last in the Rugby Championship, losing both tests against New Zealand and South Africa and sharing a series 1–1 with Argentina. All of these results were expected, as was the improvement seen across all series.

But Sunday’s meek 33-13 defeat to the All Blacks in Wellington – their ninth straight Bledisloe Test loss and 30th in a row on New Zealand soil – was a setback after the hope instilled by the Wallabies’ heroic comeback in Sydney the week before. “We have improved,” said captain Harry Wilson afterwards. “(But) in the end we have to win.”

Wilson is right. The players need wins. The fans need wins. Rugby Australia needs wins. The code is deeply in debt and struggling to connect the elite levels with the grassroots. The AFL and NRL have further entrenched themselves in the rugby markets in 2024, with huge grand finals over interstate rivals and bold expansion plans for the rest of the decade.

Rugby has its own strategy for a “golden decade” and Schmidt’s stated mandate is to make the Wallabies competitive for the British & Irish Lions tour in winter 2025. That jamboree – nine matches in six cities over ten weeks – has already attracted 40,000 incoming visitors and exhausted ticket sales in Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne.

RA’s hope is that the Lions tour will get them out of trouble and prepare them to host a holy trinity of prestigious events on home turf: the men’s 2027 Rugby World Cup, the women’s 2029 Rugby World Cup, and rugby sevens on the home field. the 2032 Olympic Games in Brisbane. If they can pull it off, RA might just save the code and restore rugby to its glory days.

But no one is grinning until the Australian teams start winning. The Wallabies can’t do it and the Wallaroos, despite a thumping 37-5 win over Wales in Cape Town on Saturday, are still stuck in the second-tier WXV2 competition. Both the men’s and women’s teams failed to win a medal at the recent Paris Olympics.

The most important piece in the puzzle remains the Wallabies, the rainmakers of the game. Not only does Schmidt have to let them win in the first place, he also has to let them play with enough flair and enthusiasm to discover a new crop of heroes who can inspire the next generation whose parents will pony up for tickets to these events.

Despite five painful defeats in 2024, Schmidt still made some important gains. He built depth in the squad and introduced 16 new players – the most fresh blood injected into the Wallabies in more than 62 years. And after a carousel of ten different captains over fifteen months, he settled on a permanent leader in the dashing No. 8 Wilson.

He has a double for former captain Michael Hooper in tank flanker Fraser McReight who, along with Wilson and Rob Valetini, form a formidable back row. Up front, Angus Bell, Matt Faessler and Taniela Tupou are, on their day, world beaters. And he has speed on the wings with Max Jorgensen, Dylan Pietsch and Corey Toole.

But Schmidt’s inability to find a pair of halves, a bridge between his front and back ends, has hampered the team’s progress. Noah Lolesio, 24, looks to be the preferred flyhalf but is growing into the role too slowly and possesses very little fear factor. Nor have Nic White, Jake Gordon or Tate McDermott nailed down the No. 9 jersey.

That playmaker axis is the biggest piece of the puzzle for Schmidt. It is a dilemma that will need to be resolved during the Wallabies’ spring tour of Great Britain for tests against England (November 10), Wales (November 18) and Scotland (November 25). The highlight is a showdown with Schmidt’s former charge, rugby’s reigning world No. 1 Ireland, on December 1.

“Those four Test matches shape the Lions for next year, so we can get a good look at their personnel,” Schmidt said. “It will be a very tough tour, but if we keep building, we can potentially be competitive next July.” The question is: will ‘building’, ‘potential’ and ‘competitive’ be enough?

One bright spot on the hill is the arrival of former rugby prodigy Joseph Sua’ali’i, who returns to the code after a stint in the NRL with the Sydney Roosters. The hulking 21-year-old will land a three-year contract worth $4.8 million with the Waratahs and Wallabies, with a profile that could help revive rugby’s popularity, in time for a new broadcast deal in 2025.

“We’ll be pretty happy to have him,” Schmidt said. “He’s a good athlete, a good player and he kicks well.” Wilson will also start by unashamedly welcoming the 196cm-100kg utility on the journey to the Northern Hemisphere. “It’s super exciting,” said the skipper. “He is a great footballer and adds a lot of value to Australian rugby.”

In a simple game that is becoming increasingly complex, Sua’ali’i may be the piece of the puzzle Schmidt has been looking for.