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What the Wallabies must do differently to be ready for All Blacks
Nicholas Quinlan • September 12th, 2025 2:30 pm
Wallabies great Tim Horan has praised the coaching ability of coach Joe Schmidt in helping build depth within the Wallabies squad following their 28-24 win over Argentina.
It has been a whirlwind couple of months for Australia following their 2-1 series loss to the British and Irish Lions.
To kick off the Rugby Championship campaign, they defeated the World Champion Springboks in Johannesburg for the first time since 1963, having come from 22 points down.
They would then lose the following match to South Africa in Cape Town by eight points before rebounding to defeat Argentina in extra time on Saturday in Townsville.
That win means they sit second on the Rugby Championship table with only New Zealand ahead of them by just one point.
Considering that this side only two years ago got knocked out in the group stage of the Rugby World Cup shows how much development they have made under coach Joe Schmidt, which has created plenty of depth.
“They call them finishers now, not replacements, Heals,” he told SENQ Breakfast.
“They come on the field, and they finish the game. So, a lot of people talk about why wouldn’t you start Angus Bell, why wouldn’t you start Tate McDermott, that’s how well they are playing.
“But what I think they are doing is they come off the bench and they are finishing the game really strongly, and I think that was important.
“I think what Joe Schmidt has done with this side, you know, 18 months ago, nearly two years ago now at the Rugby World Cup, you get knocked out and don’t play a quarter final under Eddie Jones’ coaching structure.
“And what Joe Schmidt has done is build this really strong trust and belief and just the depth of the side.
“There was no (Allan) Alaalatoa, there were a lot of players that was missing and the Wallabies still dug in.”
With one more test against Argentina left to go, Horan wants to see the Wallabies play a complete performance and not be reliant on having a second-half comeback like they had in Townsville and Johannesburg.
Especially considering that after this Test, they have two more matches left against the newly crowned World No.1s in New Zealand.
“You can’t let the All Blacks get a start because they are going to jump on you,” Horan said.
“We’ve got to try and lead from the front in the first 20 to 30 mins, get a lead and then build on that lead.
“That's something that this side hasn’t done recently. It’s always been about coming from behind.”
The Wallabies play Los Pumas on Saturday at Allianz Stadium with the match beginning at 2pm AEST.
Following that, they have two more matches against the All Blacks before they conclude their Rugby Championship campaign.
