Australia coach Joe Schmidt wants his improving Wallabies to be confident they can inflict a rare Eden Park defeat on New Zealand in the Rugby Championship this month despite their inconsistency so far this season.
The Australians slipped to a 28-26 loss on Saturday against Argentina as the Wallabies came up just short with the kind of rousing late fightback that has been a feature of recent performances by Schmidt’s team.
The All Blacks have not lost at their Auckland stronghold since 1994 and have not been defeated by the Wallabies in almost five years, but Schmidt wants his players to have faith they can pick up a win over the three-times world champions on September 27.
“We’ve got to believe because if you don’t believe, you’re beaten before you try,” Schmidt said on Saturday after his side’s loss.
“But we also know we’ve got to be better than we were today and better than we were last week, and part of that is the start and part of that is the continuity.
“We’ll get some people back but we can’t just rely on that, we’ve got to rely on our work ethic.”
Australia lost in Sydney despite scoring four tries to Argentina’s one, as the kicking of Santiago Carreras allowed the visitors to open up a 21-point lead before the Wallabies mounted a comeback that fell agonisingly short.
The defeat came as Schmidt’s team again fell far behind their opponents but, unlike in wins over the Pumas on September 6 in Townsville or against South Africa in Johannesburg in August, the Wallabies were unable to do enough to bridge the gap.
Slow starts to matches have been a feature of Australia’s recent performances, and Schmidt admitted he is facing a challenge balancing efforts to build a team for the hosting of the 2027 Rugby World Cup and more immediate concerns.
“We didn’t get quite where we needed to be,” he said.
“But we’re trying to balance that short-term focus with a long-term vision around where we can get this team to in two years’ time with where we can get them in two weeks’ time when we play in Eden Park.”
