Australia’s head coach Joe Schmidt responded to warnings from the Lions in the UK and Ireland that they are contractually required to test players for the Lions’ warm-up game.
Lions CEO Ben Calberry said on Monday that Australia must release a test star for the Lions equipment against the Super Rugby side. “The agreement is very clear and that’s what we expect,” he said.
“There is serious plate spinning at this point, and while trying to prepare, the ambitions may return to Red and some people may return to Waratah,” Schmidt told the Sydney Morning Herald in response to warnings.
“But in reality, the Lions have teams. Are they going to play the best team every week? That’s not likely, so are we going to play the same player every week?”
Schmidt previously played test players Nick Champion Decressy, Dylan Pietchu, Tom Robertson, Darcy Swain and Nick White for Western powers with the Lions, but the big names of Joseph Oak Sosuaali and Rob Barrecini and the other Orssy players are not available for Red, Waratah and Brongie.
“We play Fiji on Sunday and we play Watas on Saturday nights. So we can’t play Saturday and Sunday nights with teams like the Lions. That’s counterproductive,” Schmidt said.
“I don’t know if Andy (Pharrell) was part of that debate or if it came from the CEO (Calvely), but I have the best intentions to read the tour contract and make sure that the best quality players are available.
“It’s not as specific as saying that all the wallabies from the state and clubs are available to play every game the Lions go through.”
The widely reported lack of depth in Australia has been seen as a reason to protect some of their celebrities, as well as their own warm-up fixtures against Fiji in New South Wales on July 6th.
The Lions lost 28-24 to Argentina on their first warm-up fixture at the sold-out Aviva Stadium in Dublin on Friday.
– Tom Hamilton of Dublin: You can tell if there’s time to see if the loss of the Lions was a blip or a harbinger.
– James Regan: 3 things I learned from the Lions Opener
– British and Ireland Lions vs Argentina: As it happened
– Full fixture list for Australian Lions Tour
– Everything you need to know about Summer Lions Tour
– Complete 38-person Lions Team