'Green shoots and sunlight': Schmidt's survival plan for the game in Australia

SPOTLIGHT: Coach Joe Schmidt is urging one final flourish from his flowering Wallabies on their northern tour to provide the “sunlight” that will help Australian rugby survive and thrive.

As he prepared to face his old charges Ireland in Dublin in the last Test of their year on Saturday, Schmidt recognised just what a boon another morale-boosting victory might be to help rugby in its constant battle to hold its own in a congested sporting landscape back home.

“There are kind of green shoots and I suppose it’s our responsibility as the Wallabies to make sure we can provide a bit of sunlight for those green shoots,” said the New Zealander in a somewhat poetic mood, as he looked to end the year with a 3-1 tour success after the wins over England and Wales and a loss to Scotland.

He’s hoping the baptism of superstar NRL recruit Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii on the global rugby stage could also help enthuse other youngsters coming through the schools system to throw in their lot with the 15-player-a-side game.

Asked what he’d discovered about the current state of rugby and the pipeline of rugby talent coming through in Australia in his eight months at the helm, Schmidt conceded: “It’s a little bit clogged at the moment.

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“The pipeline has become a little bit fragmented and probably narrow. So what we’re trying to do, by getting people excited about the top end, is probably capture a few more of the players that may otherwise have gone to Rugby League. It’s a pretty constant threat.

“Obviously, Joseph, even experiencing what he’s experiencing over here, it’s very hard to do that in the NRL. Rugby is a much more global game, I think.

“He’s been pretty excited about getting out and getting into the rugby circle, and there may be other youngsters coming through the school system at the moment, just like Joseph did.

“So we’d love to get a few more of those guys. The players who come out of schools are highly competitive.”

Reflecting on the huge transformation of rugby’s fortunes in Ireland that he did so much to fashion while national coach, he explained: “You want to leave a legacy, so people are enthusiastic about the game.

“The success has allowed interest to grow, the playing population to grow, and the health of clubs to improve [in Ireland]. I just love the fact the sport is not just flourishing at the top end.”

The same applies to his ambitions with the Australian game, and his senior players also recognise how a strong, winning Wallabies side could be a game-changer.

“I absolutely feel the support we get from home is monumental, but that also goes hand in hand with winning performances, performances that we as a team are proud of,” said fullback Tom Wright.

“We know our destiny’s in our hands; winning breeds support.”

James Slipper, ready for his 143rd appearance, added: “There’s a very competitive market in the sporting industry in Australia and the Wallabies are a very strong brand in that.

“We’ve had difficulties over the last few years and that obviously hurts the support a little bit, but deep down there’s a lot of support for us and we do feel it, especially walking around Coogee, around Brisbane, and we’ve had some massive turnouts at stadiums at home this year.”

“We’re not going to sit here and think we don’t have any support – because we know we do.”