Schmidt's Wallaby captaincy frontrunner raises eyebrows
SPOTLIGHT: Joe Schmidt has detailed why Jake Gordon is captaincy material, while conceding individual form will trump team performances when selectors sit down to pick a Wallaby squad to topple the touring British and Irish Lions.
Gordon’s emergence as a frontrunner to lead the Wallabies in the showpiece three-Test series against the Lions has raised eyebrows after the skipper missed several games injured during his Waratahs’ failure to make the Super Rugby Pacific finals for a second straight season.
But coach Schmidt was glowing in his praise when asked about the halfback’s captaincy credentials during a visit to the Western Force’s training hub in Perth.
“Jake, he’s one of the leaders in the group,” Schmidt told reporters.
“So is Nic White, so there’s a few halfbacks and Tate McDermott has been a former (Wallabies) captain, so of the nines we had last year, they’re all leaders within the group.
“Jake is a really good skill-set, mature player, [has a] very nice kicking game, one of the sharper passers around, and he is utterly committed when he’s on the grass.
“His ability to cover corners and make tackles, be involved in the physical stuff, he’s a multi-purpose sort of player.
“But the sharp edge of his game is really his pass-kick, which were very helpful to us last year.”
Schmidt will name a squad of up to 40 players before the Wallabies’ first Test of the year against Fiji in Newcastle on July 6.
But the Kiwi mentor said his squad wouldn’t necessarily be dominated by the Brumbies, Australia’s last team standing in the Super Rugby Pacific competition.
Schmidt promised he was looking at a raft of players from all four Australian franchises.
“Results are fickle,” he said of the topsy-turvy Super Rugby season.
“The Wallabies will be judged on them, but there’s a lot of work that goes on behind the scenes, and there’s a lot of moments in games that decide results.
“An individual can stack up plenty of good moments in a game where they’ve performed really well, and sometimes the team doesn’t get the results.
“So we’re probably anchored to results. We’re anchored more around performance and individual performance in a team context, definitely.
“You know that you’ve got to be connected with your teammates because that’s one of the beauties of the game. It’s so interdependent.
“You’re reliant on the guys up front doing the job so you can get the space out the back. A guy like Mac Grealy or Harry Potter or Dylan Pietsch, they can’t do a lot in space if the boys up front aren’t doing their job.”
The Force will be the first Australian side to tackle the Lions, hosting the best of Britain and Ireland at Perth Stadium on June 28.
