Australia coach Joe Schmidt seeks to avoid repeat of 2022 horror result
Schmidt acknowledged the risk of not finishing in the top six in the Spring round but said he was confident the team could challenge anyone with a full squad available. In this context, Tom Hooper, Len Ikitau and James O’Connor are in contention to return for next Saturday’s match.
“If we don’t get to six in the world, all we have to do is keep improving because you can still be a big shot and not be sixth in the world, but that would be ideal for us,” Schmidt said.
“But we must improve in the next two years and not be afraid to use one of the big guns.
“I think we’ve had some big wins so far this season, I think we’ve shown the ability to knock teams out with a full squad and we need to build depth behind that squad, so this tour is really part of that.
“Italy will be very tough, last time they were one point away from England in the first half, they are a good team and coached by a good friend of mine in Gonzalo Quesada and I know Gonzalo is a very good coach.”
Loading
Wallabies halfback Jake Gordon started in the 2022 defeat and is aware of the threat Italy provides. They will be managed by Toulouse star Ange Capuozzo and Louis Lynagh, son of Australian legend Michael.
Gordon believes the Wallabies’ ability to bounce back from a disappointing performance against England will be vital if they are to avoid a second successive defeat against Italy.
“One of the things we’ve done really well this year is we’ve had some losses where we’ve been really disappointed and we’ve bounced back really well,” Gordon said.
