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The Wallabies’ hopes for an unlikely Rugby Championship triumph are hanging by a thread ahead of their final match against the All Blacks in Perth on Saturday, and despite looming international upheaval the Australians are trying not to look further ahead.
The final home Test for 2025 is followed by a trip to Japan and then Europe – a spring tour that will demonstrate the level of improvement under coach Joe Schmidt, who will hand over the reins to Les Kiss next year. The rugby calendar changes next year due to the anticipated start of a nations cup, and the hibernation of the Rugby Championship due to alternative plans made by the Springboks and All Blacks.
But beyond Schmidt’s tenure, the Wallabies’ goal of winning the 2027 Rugby World Cup on home soil now faces a new headwind, with reports the R360 startup – headed by former England centre Mike Tindall – has the funding to launch in 2026.
“I’m not sure what players have been approached, if any,” Schmidt said. “But the one thing I’ve learned – and being so old – is it won’t really concern me. I’ll be retired at that stage, but the things you can’t control, you just try not to get distracted by.”
R360, which promises a global series in non-traditional markets such as Dubai and Boston kicking off in the second half of next year, threatens to insert another divide into a sport where club contracts and the international rugby calendar are already at odds.
Rugby Australia is waiting for details, but has warned that players who sign with R360 will not be eligible for the Wallabies. It’s another potential blow for the national side, having only recently eased restrictions on selecting overseas-based players under Schmidt in a view to make the Wallabies as competitive as possible.
Schmidt said he appreciated the traditions of the game, and expressed concerns that R360 would take it too far from its origins. But he wasn’t wholly critical of the upstart.
“I was pretty much embedded in the roots of the game as a young kid growing up, and so it’s a little bit foreign, but I guess it’s a little bit akin to the IPL isn’t it, where that was transformative to a degree to cricket,” he said, adding the “balance” between old and new was essential.
“For me and for the group at the moment, our sole focus is on Saturday and what happens beyond that with R360, if it does become viable, then then that will be a bridge that gets crossed by RA and the players and the group that are putting it together.”
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Time is moving swiftly at the Wallabies, after prop James Slipper announced his retirement at the end of Saturday’s Test. The 36-year-old joined Wales’ Alun Wyn Jones and New Zealand’s Sam Whitelock in becoming just the third player to reach 150 Tests last week.
“Slips is the sort of guy if you asked him to keep going for the team and the team needed him, he’d keep going, but he’s ready to hang his boots up and he’s also conscious he wants the team to be best prepared going forward,” Schmidt said.
“He doesn’t perceive himself being available for the Rugby World Cup or even next season, so, for him, the best thing is the next five games we’ve got in the spring tour for the players we’ve got to start sharing that time and for him to step away. But he’ll be missed massively, not just for on-field performance, but he’s a big bit of the glue that keeps a team tight.”
Slipper’s starting front row partner on Saturday, Allan Alaalatoa, said the news came out of the blue when it was posted in the team’s chat. “There were quite a few players that were emotional, myself included, we knew that he was close to the end but we didn’t know that it was going to be this soon,” he said. “He’s had a massive impact on us, and his country, and if anything we want to make sure that we go out there and put in a performance that he’ll be proud of.”
Schmidt has made five changes to the XV that lost narrowly to the All Blacks 33-24 last week. Will Skelton is back in the starting side after returning from club commitments in France. Winger Filipo Daugunu has earned his first start of the year, while Rob Valetini has hopefully put his calf problems and will return from the bench.
Tane Edmed replaces James O’Connoor at fly-half and Jake Gordon comes in for the injured Tate McDermott, as Schmidt’s merry-go-round in the halves continues. Schmidt said Edmed was “pretty unlucky” in his previous starting appearance against Argentina in Sydney three weeks ago. “He had some really good moments, some really good passing moments, obviously he hit the 50-22, and he’s built into the week really confidently, and we’ve got confidence in him.”
The Wallabies can win the Rugby Championship if they beat New Zealand, and the Pumas overcome the Springboks in London, but they will rely on both bonus points and for-and-against falling their way.
Schmidt said silverware was “a massive bonus” but even their current position shows the progress of the team. “It’s a long time since we’ve even been in a competitive position for the Rugby Championship, and if we could get a win this week, at worst, we’d finish second, so that would be incredible.”
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