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Underestimate the Wallabies at your peril. That’s the warning from rugby icon Brian O’Driscoll to the British and Irish Lions, saying it’s a “dangerous” idea to write the Wallabies off ahead of this year’s showpiece tour.
“The Wallabies will be very, very dangerous,” O’Driscoll told The Roar. “I’m old enough to realise that, particularly with Joe [Schmidt] there.
“Australia are also a very proud nation, so there’s no rolling over – and even when they’re not at their best, they can still always turn it on and deliver a big performance.
“We saw enough really good stuff in the Autumn Nation Series for us to go, ‘OK, great.’ It would make for a brilliant tour if Australia won the first Test and put it to the Lions. That would be the ultimate, because you’d really have to go and earn it.
“But I think it’ll be competitive. I absolutely do. I don’t think there’ll be any foregone conclusion stuff. Not at all. Not with Joe at the helm, not with the quality of some of the players in that Aussie team.
“You know that they’ll deliver it on the big stage. It’s just the Aussie way.”
In particular, O’Driscoll – one of the greatest outside centres the world has seen – lavished praise on code-hopper Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii.
The Irish great even said he was glad he had retired because of the physical and athletic threat that the one-match State of Origin back posed.
“He was very good against Ireland in November, obviously very good against England, and that aerial game was wild,” O’Driscoll said.
“He is quite like that rangy, Israel Folau-type athlete, but packs a serious punch.
“I obviously saw that red card in the Origin as well. I was like, ‘Oh my God, I’m so glad I’m retired.’
“When you have that level of athleticism, it’s hard not to find yourself applauding moments.
Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii Twickenham Stadium on November 09, 2024 in London, England. (Photo by David Rogers/Getty Images)
“That chip catch play against England, not many players have that in their locker. So when you’re doing that in your first game for your country, it was his debut too, you just think, ‘Wow.’
“When you get some air miles, and you get some experience, how good is this guy going to be?”
However, O’Driscoll did think Suaalii would be tested against the Lions, particularly if chosen at outside centre – the role he filled during the Wallabies’ end of year tour.
“The really tricky part is defending at 13 and being able to read front door and out the back,” he said.
“I think because he’s fast and he’s so athletic, he has that capacity to maybe stay a little bit longer on the short runner, but then still have the capacity to get out.”
Adding to the difficulty of the move is Suaalii has predominantly played at fullback for the Waratahs in his first season since switching from the NRL.
Brian O’Driscoll in action against the Wallabies in the third Test in Sydney, 2001. Mandatory Credit: Nick Wilson/Allsport
The Lions will name their touring party on Thursday night, with coach Andy Farrell to announce the squad in London.
Just who makes the squad remains to be seen, with Farrell having to choose his players from England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales.
Attention is particularly focused on which playmakers Farrell will choose, with his son, Owen, a contender to make the trip despite an injury-disrupted maiden season at Racing in the French Top 14. But given the embarrassment of riches in the position, including Marcus and Fin Smith, Finn Russell and rising Ireland playmaker Sam Prendergast, it’s no foregone conclusion that Farrell will be picked.
The selection balancing act has been made more difficult by the end of Ireland’s dominance, having been smashed by France in Dublin in a defeat that cruelled their hopes of winning a third straight Six Nations crown.
Adding to the potential awkward selection case is that England snagged a late bonus point in Dublin, which meant Steve Borthwick’s men finished second on the standings.
O’Driscoll said the fact Ireland had finished third had made it politically harder for Farrell to have a stronger greener tinge to his squad.
Concerns of an Irish drop-off were compounded over the weekend as the Irish-heavy Leinster were upset by Northampton in the Champions Cup semi-final. The loss was made worse by the injury to Irish captain Caelan Doris’ to a shoulder injury.
“I would say it has changed the complexion of the squad,” O’Driscoll said.
“You probably could have been looking at 18 or 19 Irish guys if you’d won the championship, I think that’s going to reduce the numbers down [now].
“I think it’ll still be heavily Irish-led, because coaches work on muscle memory. The players have been there and done it for them, and performed it, delivered, and a lot of that Irish team, the guts of it will have done that.
“So, yeah, I think the 50-50 calls, he’ll probably still lean on the Irish component, but you might see [Maro] Itoje as captain. Maybe that will take a little bit of the pressure off (with selection). Obviously, he’s done a good job with England. He’s a guaranteed starter.
“There are, of course, politics involved. It’s four teams. So you’ve got to play that game a little bit too, and maybe that’s his route into it.”
Brian O’Driscoll farewells the crowd following the British & Irish Lions’ third Test triumph at ANZ Stadium on July 6, 2013 in Sydney. (Photo by David Rogers/Getty Images)
The 2005 Lions captain said he anticipated the squad would be roughly as strong as the one that beat the Wallabies in 2013.
“I think it’ll be close. Ironically, I think our squad in ‘01 was much better than the squad in ‘13, but they didn’t win the series,” O’Driscoll said.
“You know, we should have won that series in ‘01. It was a really good squad in ‘01.
“There’s very few Mickey Mouse Lions squads. I’d say it’s very close to the 13 squad, in truth. Very close.”
O’Driscoll, who went on four Lions tours, added that he was still disappointed that he didn’t get the send-off he wanted in 2013, having missed selection in the third Test after Warren Gatland selected Welsh centre Jonathan Davis over him.
“I’m ultimately disappointed of not being involved, but relieved that we did win the series, of course,” he said.
“The reality is, if you don’t put the kit on, you don’t feel the same sense of the victory, and that’s the reality of it.
“But I would be more relieved to have sat in the stand and for us to have won the series, for me to have been in the team and not won the series, put it that way. That’s obviously a no-brainer. And it is what it is, you don’t control your own destiny, exiting the game or exiting certain teams. You’re at the behest of other coaches and other decision-makers, and that’s just the reality of it.
“But, yeah, I certainly aren’t a grudge-holder. I think initially, you’re wounded, and it’s hard not to take it personally, but you get over it, like all things.”
Join The Roar rugby editor Christy Doran, former Wallaby Matt Toomua and a cast of regular and special guests as they look at the biggest issues in the game on The Roar Rugby Podcast. If you’re looking for great odds on the next game check out Aussie bookmaker PlayUp. Chances are you’re about to lose. Set a deposit limit.