Australia’s Schmidt clings to positives after Grand Slam dreams scotched

Australia coach Joe Schmidt thinks the Wallabies are still on a positive trajectory despite their dreams of a first Grand Slam tour in 40 years being shattered by a 27-13 loss to Scotland at Murrayfield on Sunday.
Wins over England and Wales to start their tour had triggered a huge upsurge in interest in the Wallabies back home and had some dreaming of a sweep of the home nations to match that achieved by the 1984 tourists.
Schmidt said Scotland had proved to be a very strong side featuring several players likely to face the Wallabies in British & Irish Lions colours on next year’s tour of Australia.
“I think that context is still pretty positive, because Scotland will contribute, I’ve no doubt, a number of players,” he told reporters after the match.
“They’re a tough team … what I’m hoping is that people do see it as real contest next July, because I think we’re building a little bit of momentum.
“I always said from the start it would never be linear, because high performance, it just isn’t. There’s going to be days where it doesn’t go as well as you’d like it to go.”
Australia dominated possession and territory early on at Murrayfield but were unable to produce the finishing that saw them run in 13 tries against England and Wales, while more than 30 missed tackles was always going to make a win tough.
Schmidt said the late loss of starting hooker Matt Faessler to a calf injury and lock Jeremy Williams to illness had been disruptive to the team’s cohesion.
“They’re not excuses,” the New Zealander added. “They’re just reasons for why we were a little bit out of kilter.
“But Scotland are a good side and hopefully people can still see that there’s some quality starting to be built through an Australian side that’s actually starting to show a bit of depth, albeit with some pretty inexperienced players.”
The loss of marquee signing Joseph Suaalii early in the match was another blow, although Schmidt thought the centre’s injury was no worse than a numb arm.
The Wallabies will already be without lock Will Skelton for the last leg of the tour against Ireland in Dublin next week, which falls outside the international window.
The match will pit former Ireland coach Schmidt against his onetime assistant Andy Farrell, who will lead the Lions in Australia next year.
“I really do believe in this group, and I think they’re starting to believe in themselves. I don’t think necessarily that they did initially,” Schmidt said.
“It’ll be a nice week to get back (to Dublin), but there’s only one game in town, and that’s all about the footy and in trying to help these guys prepare as best they can.”