Joe Schmidt makes worrying Australia admission after narrow win over Fiji
The Wallabies narrowly evaded an embarrassing defeat thanks to Harry Wilson, who notched a decisive try in the 78th minute, less than two weeks out from the opener against the Lions at Suncorp Stadium.
With Fiji showing formidable strength in the second half in Newcastle, Schmidt conveyed a sense of tempered determination, suggesting that "quiet resolve" will be the guiding force for his squad in their Test encounters with Andy Farrell's touring side.
Commenting on Australia's performance, Schmidt remarked: "We didn't play well enough for people to have the expectation that we're going to come bowling into Brisbane and knock the Lions over. I'm not sure that expectation was there before Fiji."
"There's not real confidence, but there's a quiet resolve. And that quiet resolve, hopefully over the three-match series, can build to something that will earn us the support of a very interested group."
"We haven't been together for six months. To have five trainings and to be seamless would be an expectation that I hoped for rather than immediately believed would happen. Now we have another short runway to improve on where we were against Fiji."
Compounding Australia's challenges, fly-half Noah Lolesio had to leave the pitch, his head having made an unpleasant contact with the ground following a tackle by Elia Canakaivata, after a Fijian attempt at a try by Sireli Maqala was contentiously disallowed.
Schmidt expresses optimism that Lolesio will be back on the field promptly following an upbeat update on the 25-year-old playmaker's condition.
"The first question Noah asked me was 'did we win?'. He was still very much focused on the game and he appeared to be in good shape. That's the most important thing," Schmidt revealed.
"It was whiplash and his head hit the ground. I'm hopeful that that will be something that resolves itself reasonably quickly. But we won't take any risks that we don't need to."
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