Joe Schmidt rolls the dice against England with Lions on his mind

To say that Joe Schmidt’s selection to face England is out of character is somewhat of an understatement.

During his Ireland days, Schmidt was once described as the “Margaret Thatcher of coaching” for his inflexibility and general conservatism when it came to selection. And now he is starting league convert Joseph Sua’ali’i in his first game of senior rugby union against England at the Allianz Stadium on Saturday. Say it ain’t so, Joe?

To understand why Schmidt has suddenly piled into a casino and placed a load of chips on 13, you need to look at what has come before and what is coming next with Australia. As Ireland head coach, Schmidt was nearly always picking from a position of strength. He did not need to gamble. The Wallabies, meanwhile, arrive at Twickenham after losing five of their six games in the Rugby Championship. There is not a lot to lose.

More important is what lies on the horizon in the form of next summer’s Lions series, which acts as the north star for all of Australian rugby. As much as Schmidt wants to win on Saturday, the greater prize is building a competitive team to take on his one-time protege Andy Farrell. Hence fast-tracking Sua’ali’i was less a roll of the dice and more a necessity.

“Everything’s a risk, but I would challenge that with everything’s an opportunity,” Schmidt said. “And it’s a fantastic opportunity for a young man who’s really excited about getting the chance. And I guess for us, there’s four Test matches left this year before we embark on a massive Lions tour next year. So, if not now, when? It’s unlikely it’ll go perfectly, but it will be a benchmark that he can build from.

“All our selections this season have been [made with the Lions in mind]. I think Joseph is our 17th or 18th debutant this year. So, it’s not a new situation for us to have a debutant. In fact, it’s the most common situation that we’ve had this year in an effort to build depth and an effort to stabilise the group that we have, we see it as an opportunity more than as a risk.”

Sua’ali’i will start at outside centre with Hunter Paisami picking up a knock and Samu Keveri not considered ready after linking up from Japan. Second-row Will Skelton will also sit out the Test having trained only on Thursday for the first time since being released by his French club La Rochelle.

The discussion, however, at the Lensbury Club in south-west London was centred on only one man, as Schmidt joked: “We don’t do press conferences about the team anymore, we do them around Joseph.”

Schmidt confirmed that Len Ikitau, who is wearing No 12, will cover at outside centre in defence. Nevertheless there will be few hiding places for Sua’ail’i in front of 82,000 in his first game of rugby union in five years since he was a schoolboy. Yet, having played in the State of Origin series in Australia, Schmidt has no qualms about throwing him in the deep end.

“The thing that I would have confidence around Joseph is how well he prepares himself,” Schmidt said. “He’s a very professional young man. He’s had plenty of experience both playing rugby union and being professional as well with rugby league in the past and coming back to rugby union.

“He’s a really level-headed kid, and so that gives us some confidence that he will cope. But we’ve got to find out some time. You know, if not this week, as I said, it’s next week or the week after that. No matter what Test you play up here, it’s going to be really competitive, combative, and a benchmark experience for a young man.

“He’s up against the likes of Henry Slade with a lot of experience. But it’s one of the challenges that in four or five Test matches’ time, that may well be the same player who’s in the British and Irish Lions, or if it’s not Henry Slade, it’ll be another highly capable athlete like Henry.”