Outgoing Wallabies boss Joe Schmidt says 'definite progress' made

His two-and-a-half-year tenure came to a conclusion in Perth on Saturday and the Wallabies gave him a good send-off as they cruised to 57-10 Nations Championship victory against Italy.

It was Australia's highest score during Schmidt's stint in charge of the national team and their largest on home soil since 2014.

Schmidt took over the coaching reins from Eddie Jones after a disappointing 2023 Rugby World Cup campaign in France and will now be replaced as Wallabies boss by former Reds head coach Les Kiss.

Saturday's win over the Azzurri was a crucial one for Schmidt as it means he finishes his Wallabies career with a win ratio of 38.7 percent after registering 12 wins and 19 losses.

Avoiding defeat prevents Schmidt from owning the worst winning percentage of a Wallabies coach in the professional era, with current All Blacks coach Dave Rennie sitting at 38.2 percent. Despite his underwhelming record, the New Zealander believes the Wallabies have improved under his guidance.

"If you look back two-and-a-half years, we have definitely made progress," said Schmidt, who had a highly successful stint as Ireland's head coach from 2013 to 2019 and also served as an All Blacks assistant in 2022 and 2023.

"The players are more connected, the leaders are more vocal, and they are the critical mass internally. And our set-pieces are getting better. Our fundamentals around the clean carry, around our connection and defence, that was on evidence (against Italy)."

Schmidt praised his players for their efforts in Saturday's triumph over the Italians and is now looking forward to taking a break from the game. "I'm just delighted with the effort from the players," he said.

"I thought we had a real steel about us today, and I'm just relieved and retired, really. I'm going to try to celebrate till midnight, and then I might celebrate as a retired gentleman for a couple more hours.

"I've massively enjoyed the group. They're a great group of young men, and there are some very good footy players amongst them."

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