Joe Schmidt didn’t hold back after Australia’s 25-7 defeat to England at Twickenham, branding the pre-match noise around his side’s breakdown tactics as “disappointing” and “gamesmanship.”
Just two days before kick-off, The Telegraph reported that England coach Steve Borthwick had used his pre-match referee’s meeting with Nika Amashukeli to highlight what he called the Wallabies’ “dangerous” and “illegal” work at the ruck – even providing 40 examples to the official.
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The report singled out Wallabies captain Harry Wilson, whose ruck entries were allegedly under scrutiny. But Schmidt hit back strongly after the game, saying the claims were both unfair and unfounded.
“I think it’s a bit of gamesmanship,” Schmidt said.
“We’ve had up until today 1,256 attacking rucks. There’s two players at least in each of those. That’s 2,500 ruck entries. We had one yellow card. No one has left the field injured as a result of our clean-outs. We haven’t ever been excessively penalised for side entry. So I always find those things disappointing but not distracting.”
Despite Schmidt’s insistence, the Wallabies were hit early by Amashukeli, conceding six penalties in the opening 20 minutes, most for ruck infringements – including Wilson and prop Taniela Tupou within the first few minutes.
Even so, the Wallabies boss refused to blame the referee or the pre-match controversy for the loss.
“No, I don’t think so,” he said.
“For all those incidents that were highlighted, ten were sent to the referee and he didn’t even agree with them all. It wasn’t the number 40 that was said earlier in the week, and I think the referee is a very experienced referee and he just got on and refereed the game.”
England coach Steve Borthwick, meanwhile, praised the Georgian referee and instead turned the focus inward after Australia flanker Fraser McReight repeatedly disrupted English ball.
“I think that Nika had a good game, but we’ve got some areas to improve,” Borthwick said.
“Fraser McReight stole too many balls from us. He’s a wonderful player, an incredible player. We’ve got some work to do in that area.”
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The defeat dented Australia’s hopes of finishing inside the top six on the World Rugby rankings before December’s 2027 Rugby World Cup draw, a result made even tougher to swallow after the storm that swirled in the lead-up.
Photo: David Rogers/Getty Images
