Joe Schmidt has pinpointed the danger of his buoyant Wallabies having their British Isles ‘grand slam’ hopes dynamited by one of their own.
Playing down growing hopes that his touring team could be on their way to a first four-match clean sweep of the home nations in 40 years, Schmidt has outlined the threat posed by a Scottish team galvanised by its new inspirational Aussie leader.
“We've got our very own Sione Tuipulotu who's leading Scotland by example at the moment,” smiled Schmidt, reflecting on the third leg of the Wallabies’ quest in Edinburgh after wins at Twickenham and Cardiff being a potential minefield.
Tuipulotu, Melbourne born-and-bred but qualified for his adopted rugby nation through his Scottish grandma, has impressed everyone since being handed the reins to the team for the November Tests.
A classy, barnstorming centre who’s credited by the Scottish coach Gregor Townsend as “setting the emotional tone and mindset required for the team while contributing significantly to both our attack and defence”, Tuipulotu looks like another of those talents that, maddeningly, got away for the Wallabies.
The 27-year-old, who played for Australia's Under-20s, couldn’t quite make the grade with the Rebels back home so went off on a globetrotting adventure that saw him reinvent his rugby life in Japan and then Scotland, with the Glasgow Warriors star overcoming his share of lonely, tough times along the way.
But now he’s grown to oversee a team that’s currently feeling just as confident in the end-of-year international tussles as the Wallabies.
After leading Scotland to an impressive 57-17 thrashing of Fiji, Tuipulotu’s men then gave the world champion Springboks a bit of a scare before succumbing 32-15, while a second-string outfit outfit blitzed Portugal 59-21 at the weekend.
With temperatures dropping in Edinburgh this week and Murrayfield offering a potentially chilling new examination of his resurgent outfit, Schmidt warned: “I think they will be very tough … I've got massive respect for this Scotland team.
“They play a fast game, they put massive pressure on at the breakdown with a good loose forward trio. Their tight-five have been going really well as well.
“And when you get the ball to Finn Russell, he's a bit of a magician. Out wide, Darcy Graham's been going super for them with Duhan van der Merwe a threat on the edges.
“They've got such a good depth as well. They can put another player in, and be really effective.”
Over the last six Murrayfield encounters, the sides have won three each, with all but one decided by a six-point or fewer margin. The Scots won the other one in a blowout.
All of which persuades Schmidt to say he hasn’t even looked as far as the tour-ending clash with his former team, Ireland, the following week.
As for the ‘grand slam’, he shrugs: “I’ll put that on the back burner.”
