Young and hungry Wallabies sniff out tourists' weak spots

Australian rugby liked what it saw and didn't see - last week, as the British & Irish Lions got their 2025 tour off to a losing start against Argentina.

- Angus Fontaine

Sure, it was the opening game of a 10-match odyssey and Andy Farrell's men were lacking cohesion after only two weeks in camp. But for a young Wallabies side rising fast under their head coach, Joe Schmidt, it proved the tourists are very beatable.

Schmidt's 6-7 record in his first season in charge of the Wallabies might not cost Lions fans much sleep but Farrell, his former second-in-command at Ireland, will sniff the seeds of ambush. In their last start in November, the Wallabies led Ireland 13-5 only to lose 22-19. Schmidt won't let that happen again. The 2025 Wallabies are light years from the lambs Eddie Jones led to slaughter at the 2023 World Cup in France.

When Schmidt accepted the job of coaching the ninth-ranked Wallabies in 2024, his mission was to resurrect a two-time world champion side at its lowest ebb, sliding into social irrelevance and debt, its players easy poachings for rugby league. He has done it, capping 19 rookies in 2024 while winning loyalty from the old guard, redressing a sin Jones fatally made by axing the talismanic captain Michael Hooper for the World Cup. With Laurie Fischer, the scrum guru Mike Cron and the former Lion Geoff Parling in the brains trust, Australia's skill levels have had a sharp uptick.