Wallabies dismiss Grand Slam talk

REACTION: Australia coach Joe Schmidt said he was not getting carried away about thoughts of a Grand Slam sweep of the home nations after his team thrashed Wales 52-20 in Cardiff on Sunday.

The Wallabies notched up eight tries, including a hat-trick each for Tom Wright and Matt Faessler, at the Millennium Stadium with Wales managing just two in a toothless reply.

The result condemned Wales to a national record 11th consecutive Test defeat.

All that was achieved despite centre Samu Kerevi being red-carded early in the second half for a high tackle on Jac Morgan.

In his absence, Australia scored three unanswered converted tries to pull clear for another impressive win.

They opened their European tour with a spectacular 42-37 victory over England last week and Schmidt’s team will now focus on trips to Scotland and Ireland in their bid to emulate the 1984 Grand Slam-winning Wallaby tourists.

“It’s too far away to contemplate,” insisted Schmidt.

“We have talked about regenerating well tonight and and making sure we don’t miss our flight to Edinburgh, get the front half of the week right and and see what comes in the back half of the week.”

Schmidt, a former Ireland coach who regularly crossed swords with the Scottish in Six Nations action, added: “I’ve got massive respect for Scotland. I think they will be very tough. They play a fast game.

“They put massive pressure on the breakdown. They’ve got a good loose forward trio. But also, I think their tight five have been going really well.

“And then when you get the ball to Finn Russell he’s a bit of a magician, and out wide Darcy Graham’s been going super for them.”

Schmidt said thoughts had not drifted to their final autumn Test against Ireland.

“We certainly haven’t looked as far as Dublin,” the New Zealander said.

“That’s always going to be really tough for us on a six-day turnaround.”

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‘Scoreboard exaggerates’

Schmidt, in his 12th Test against Wales coach Warren Gatland, admitted he had some sympathy for his rival, the two of them having played in the same New Zealand teachers team.

“The scoreboard exaggerates the difference between the two sides,” he said.

“I don’t think it was as different as a scoreboard suggests, but when you’re trying to chase a game, you start to overplay potentially and then the game loosens up.

“It either comes off or it doesn’t, and for us, we got a couple of tries on the back of that.”

Australia have rebounded since the 2023 Rugby World Cup when an Eddie Jones-coached team failed to advance from their pool, even suffering a 40-6 thrashing by Wales.

Their revival comes at an opportune time ahead of a British and Irish Lions tour Down Under between June-August, 2025.

“It’s just around galvanising the nation, really,” Schmidt said.

“Obviously, I’m pretty good friends with ‘Faz’ [Lions and Ireland coach Andy Farrell].

“We worked together for a while and I know him well, so that will be challenging because he’s a very good coach.

“On the playing perspective, I think for the players, outside of a World Cup, you just can’t be get bigger than the British and Irish Lions.

“I think it’s going to be a fantastic tour. We’ll keep building and I’m hoping it’s a really competitive series.”