‘Blow hot and cold’: Veteran coach delivers sober health check for Aussie rugby

The Wallabies could be scrambling for a midfield partner for Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii to meet Ireland next month with Hunter Paisami injured and Wallabies assistant coach Laurie Fisher saying it will be “very difficult” for Len Ikitau to be ready after playing in the England Premiership final this Sunday.

Fisher threw doubt on the first Test availability of Ikitau and fellow Exeter Wallaby Tom Hooper as the veteran coach also gave a sober health check on Australian rugby, saying it would be a “massive hill to climb” for the Wallabies to win the 2027 Rugby World Cup. He also said all Australian teams tend to “blow hot and cold”.

Fisher was speaking on Tuesday after it was officially confirmed the 68-year-old will step down from the Wallabies coaching staff at the end of the three Tests in July, against Ireland, France and Italy.

Rugby Australia announced the assistants of incoming Wallabies coach Les Kiss, who takes over after the Italy Test. Many of Kiss’ offsiders will carry on from Schmidt’s staff, apart from Jon Fisher, who will come up with Kiss from Queensland, and ex-All Blacks assistant coach Scott McLeod, who is taking over the defence portfolio from Laurie Fisher.

Fisher, who said 150 nights away a year on tour was too onerous on family life and is set to take up a consultancy role with RA, has never been one to sugar coat his views. And that was the case when Fisher was asked if he saw the Wallabies as a team who could go on and win the World Cup.

“That’ll be the aim, and that’s a huge ask. I mean if you say where we are now, it’s certainly a massive hill to climb,” he said.

“Is there quality? Yes, there is. Are there good coaches? Yes, there are. Is there depth? It’s growing. But again you look at New Zealand, you look at South Africa, France, England, Ireland and all those other teams, like the top 10, 12 teams, it’s tough.

“So I wouldn’t sit here and bet my house on us winning the World Cup. But I would bet my house on everybody involved giving it an absolute red-hot go, and having belief that they can.”

Fisher later said Australian sides – at Super Rugby and Test level – had the ability to play excellent rugby, but “we just have too great a capacity to be blow hot and cold” and confidence can be forged by stringing together four or five strong performances.

An expanded Wallabies squad of over 40 players is training this week in Sydney ahead of a final trimmed-down squad for Ireland being named on Friday. Most are players who were involved last year, with only a handful of new faces. Incumbent No.10 Tane Edmed is the most notable omission after limited game time for the Brumbies behind Declan Meredith, who was given a call-up to the squad.

Tom Lambert, Miles Amatosero, Lachie Shaw, Kalani Thomas, Isaac Henry and Jock Campbell are also among the handful of new faces.

While only one Australian will be involved in the Super Rugby Pacific decider this weekend – Lalakai Foketi at the Chiefs – there will be as many as five in the English Premiership final on Sunday morning (AEST), with Ikitau, Hooper and Scott Sio playing for Exeter and Josh Kemeny and James Ramm with Northampton.

Only Ikitau and Hooper are likely to be selected for the July Tests, but Fisher indicated the pair won’t be considered for the first clash against Ireland in Sydney on July 4 given the turnaround time.

“It becomes very skinny into that Ireland Test,” Fisher said. “There are certain problems around it. They’ve been playing in a different team, different environment, different playing style, different competition.

“In the space of a couple of training sessions, to come back and play one of the best sides in the world … there’s always a lot of talk about cohesion. It doesn’t happen at the snap of your fingers. You need a week or two to get back in the environment, to feel comfortable.”

On the Spring Tour last year, Hooper played against Italy after one week’s training but Ikitau – last year’s John Eales Medallist – was only picked after two weeks in the camp, against Ireland.

Given Paisami is set to miss all the July Tests with a knee injury, the candidates with Test experience in the No.12 jersey are scarce. Uncapped pair David Feliuai and Henry are in camp, and Filipo Daugunu has filled the role for Queensland this year, too. But another option could see Suaalii moved to inside centre, with Josh Flook stepping into the No.13 jersey.

Meanwhile, gold medal-winning sevens coach Tim Walsh is set to be named by Rugby Australia as the technical director for Women’s Rugby. The new position is set to oversee both the successful Australian women’s sevens program and the Wallaroos in the XV-a-side program, and the two programs are set to collaborate and share players more often in the build-up to the 2028 Olympics and 2029 Rugby World Cup.

One of Walsh’s first jobs will be to help finalise the appointment of a Wallaroos coach.