{"id":289337,"date":"2025-11-17T00:50:08","date_gmt":"2025-11-17T00:50:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/289337\/"},"modified":"2025-11-17T00:50:08","modified_gmt":"2025-11-17T00:50:08","slug":"schmidt-doubles-down-on-message-to-fans-after-wallabies-defeat-to-ireland","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/289337\/","title":{"rendered":"Schmidt doubles down on message to fans after Wallabies\u2019 defeat to Ireland"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Joe Schmidt urged Wallabies supporters to keep the faith after the team\u2019s shock 26-19 loss to Italy<\/a> in Udine, and the world-renowned coach doubled down on that message after Saturday\u2019s 46-19 defeat to Ireland<\/a> in the Quilter Nations Series.<\/p>\n

\u201cDon\u2019t lose faith,\u201d Schmidt said after Australia\u2019s sixth loss in eight Tests just over a week ago. That record has since extended to seven defeats from nine matches following a trip to Dublin, with the Irish piling on the points during a second-half blitz at the Aviva Stadium.<\/p>\n

It was a one-score game at the break after a Fraser McReight<\/a> try, with the Wallabies believing in their ability to shock one of the world\u2019s best sides. After a tense start to the second 40, the Irish took control, with playmakers Sam Prendergast<\/a> and Jack Crowley<\/a> leading the way.<\/p>\n

Prendergast opened the scoring in the second half with a drop goal, before Crowley added a penalty a few minutes later. Caelan Doris<\/a>, Ryan Baird<\/a> and Robbie Henshaw<\/a> crossed for a try each, following a first-half hat-trick from Australia-born Ireland outside back Mack Hansen.<\/p>\n

After beating the British & Irish Lions<\/a> and Springboks in August, the Wallabies have only won two Tests, which were against Los Pumas<\/a> and the Brave Blossoms. While positive results have proven hard to come by in that period, Schmidt has called on Australian sports fans again to believe.<\/p>\n

\u201cI just ask the same of them,\u201d Schmidt told reporters.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are working hard. Tiredness isn\u2019t an excuse. We have to put an 80-minute performance out there. We can\u2019t be 22-14 down and collapse like we did tonight.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe yellow card certainly made things more difficult, especially if you\u2019re trying to overplay at that stage when you\u2019re a man down, there\u2019s always going to be a bit of space somewhere\u2026 once you\u2019ve got that yellow card, you\u2019ve got to be able to adjust and play well enough with 14.\u201d<\/p>\n

Australia<\/a> started their international season with a last-gasp win over Fiji<\/a> in Newcastle, with captain Harry Wilson<\/a> scoring a decisive try in the dying stages. That was their only fixture before the three-Test series against the British & Irish Lions.<\/p>\n

The second Lions Test was a thriller at the MCG, with the Wallabies falling in heartbreaking circumstances before bouncing back the next week. Australia won in Sydney and then shocked the two-time defending World Cup winners South Africa<\/a> in Johannesburg.<\/p>\n

Fast-forward a few months and the Wallabies have just one more game left in a gruelling 15-Test international season, which is against France<\/a> in Saint-Denis. As Schmidt explained, the Wallabies have been \u201cwritten off\u201d before in 2025, but this team has plenty of fight in them.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve proven really competitive with the biggest teams in the world,\u201d Schmidt said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re two points down with 10 to go against the All Blacks<\/a>, going to Ellis Park [and] getting that win, getting the win against the Lions in the third Test.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve proven that at the top end we can compete, it\u2019s just developing that strength and depth, that does take time. There are players who were missing tonight but there are players who are developing on the back of tough experiences.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019d have to say that there were tough days when I first arrived at Leinster\u2026 and you still end up as European champions at the end of that year.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m convinced that with the commitment these players show, they are a really good group of young men and they\u2019re going to keep learning.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe question round what we are asking of the Australian public, we can\u2019t demand anything on the back of what we did in the last 10 minutes tonight but I\u2019d hope they\u2019d look across the whole game and just see ow hard some of those players were working and try to project that forward.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Joe Schmidt urged Wallabies supporters to keep the faith after the team\u2019s shock 26-19 loss to Italy in…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":289338,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[567],"tags":[64,63,760,85],"class_list":{"0":"post-289337","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\/289337","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=289337"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/289337\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/289338"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=289337"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=289337"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=289337"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}