{"id":258695,"date":"2025-11-03T01:30:12","date_gmt":"2025-11-03T01:30:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/258695\/"},"modified":"2025-11-03T01:30:12","modified_gmt":"2025-11-03T01:30:12","slug":"schmidts-take-on-rankings-before-2027-world-cup-draw","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/258695\/","title":{"rendered":"Schmidt\u2019s take on rankings before 2027 World Cup Draw"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Joe Schmidt insists that while it would be \u201cideal\u201d for the Wallabies to secure a top-six spot in the world rankings, missing out doesn\u2019t have to dampen their hopes of winning the 2027 Men\u2019s Rugby World Cup<\/a> on Australian soil.<\/p>\n

Ahead of the Rugby World Cup Draw in Sydney, the Wallabies are currently on track for a spot in the second band of pool seedings, which would see them take on one \u201cof the big guns\u201d before the new-look finals structure.<\/p>\n

Australia<\/a> could be drawn in a pool with two-time defending World Cup winners South Africa, arch-rivals New Zealand, or any of the other sides in the top six. If the Wallabies want to avoid that fate, they\u2019ll need to improve on their seventh-place world ranking.<\/p>\n

Following last weekend\u2019s 25-7 Autumn Nations Series<\/a> defeat to England<\/a> at Twickenham\u2019s Allianz Stadium, the Wallabies have lost some ground on sixth-placed Los Pumas. They\u2019ve got three matches left this season before the World Cup Draw on December 3.<\/p>\n

Schmidt has explained that while the Wallabies would prefer to be in the top band for the pool draw, it\u2019s more important for the team to focus on improving and playing without fear, having shown clear signs of growth already in 2025.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf we don\u2019t get to six in the world, all we\u2019ve got to do is just keep building, because you can still be a great chance and not be six in the world,\u201d Schmidt told reporters on Saturday.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat would be ideal for us, but we\u2019ve got to be able to build over the next two years and not be afraid of playing one of the big guns.<\/p>\n

\u201cHaving had some big wins this season so far, I think we\u2019ve demonstrated ability with a full squad that we can knock teams over, and we\u2019ve got to build depth in behind that squad. This tour is really part of that.<\/p>\n

\u201cItaly<\/a> will be very tough. They were one score away from England at half-time last time they played them. They\u2019re a good side and they\u2019re coached by a good friend of mine in \u2018Gonzo\u2019 Quesada. I know that Gonzo\u2019s a very good coach and he\u2019ll have them primed.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou look through their team and they\u2019ve got some great attacking players\u2026 so many players that play at the very top level and that\u2019s going to be a massive challenge for us. We\u2019re gonna have to dust ourselves off very quickly.\u201d<\/p>\n

Almost 12 months ago to the day, the Wallabies shocked England 42-37 at Allianz Stadium, with Max Jorgensen<\/a> flying down the left edge to score the last-gasp winner. That was the first in a series of famous Wallabies wins, which included a triumph over the British & Irish Lions.<\/p>\n

Australia also secured a thrilling win over the Flying Fijians in Newcastle, a famous comeback against South Africa<\/a> at Emirates Airline Park during this year\u2019s Rugby Championship, before triumphing over Los Pumas<\/a> and the Brave Blossoms in Tests.<\/p>\n

Two years out from the World Cup, the Wallabies are building. Up next is a match away to Italy, who defeated the Australians in their last meeting, with debutant Ben Donaldson<\/a> failing to hit the mark with what would\u2019ve been a match-winning conversion in 2022.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t think we speak about anything that preceded the last 18 months. All we\u2019ve said is we are where we are, we have the depth that we have, and we have the challenge in front of us that we face,\u201d Schmidt said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve tried to just face that challenge and try to incrementally improve and unfortunately that\u2019s not linear, and particularly when you get a team at home, highly motivated.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are mindful of what happened last time we went to Italy, well I am because I\u2019ve looked back at that game and I caught up with Dave Rennie in Japan<\/a> and we discussed it briefly.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut all we can affect now is how well we prepare to go into that game and be as competitive and get the performance that\u2019s more accurate than what we feel we put out tonight.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Joe Schmidt insists that while it would be \u201cideal\u201d for the Wallabies to secure a top-six spot in…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":258696,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[567],"tags":[64,63,760,85],"class_list":{"0":"post-258695","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-rugby","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-rugby","11":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/258695","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=258695"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/258695\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/258696"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=258695"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=258695"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=258695"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}