We also have to be careful of adopting a general inferiority complex when picking players from overseas. Yes, some players have started after they left, but it's not true that Australia have universally failed to develop players.
Take Waratahs big second rower Miles Amatosero as an example. He has a lot of potential, but this year has extinguished any notion that he could dominate the Super Rugby Pacific again after a few years in France.
Will Skelton, Wallabies second rower.Credit: Getty
There is no one who can convince me that Amatosero would not be a better rugby player than he is today if he had spent his last few years at the Brumbies, the Canberra player polishing machine.
Likewise, look at Corey Toole, Charlie Cale and Darby Lancaster – three of the competition's most promising players have come through a uniquely Australian system, including time in the sets unit with good performance.
Meanwhile, the continued repatriation of players continues at the Western Force, with hookers Brendan Paenga-Amosa and Nic Dolly returning to Australia, and Leicester center Guy Porter also linked. Harry Potter, of course, has already made this move.
The last part of that argument is this: it would seem extraordinarily counterproductive for Australian rugby not to want to start reaping some rewards for the pain of recent years.
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Dave Rennie and Eddie Jones, albeit in different ways, invested heavily in young players, either by choice or as a result of a number of crippling injuries.
As a result, Schmidt has a large number of players already versed in the harsh realities of Test rugby, in almost every position.
Take the Rebels-Highlanders game in Melbourne as an example. The Highlanders picked promising 21-year-old Ajay Faleafaga at No.10. He played for New Zealand Under-20s in 2023, so he has pedigree.
But who was the number 10 who largely dominated proceedings? The 23-year-old with eight Test caps already, Carter Gordon.
The same applies to several Australian players who play in the Super Rugby Pacific.
So Schmidt would be wrong and disingenuous to look abroad for answers, and he doesn't even remotely come close to either of those descriptions.
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