In March I called for backfoot Waratah Tane Edmed to be Wallaby flyhalf since he had more attributes Joe Schmidt’s teams rely on: “a starter play driven attack which wheels around a disciplined and physical ten, which demands … vision from a tough general” than front-foot Brumby Noah Lolesio or quick-ruck beneficiary Tom Lynagh, at the Reds.

The way I put it was: “Edmed can be the executor of the plans Schmidt is making: allowing those around him to flourish by being direct, disciplined, and full of good fire.”

In what seemed heresy at the time, I stated “Ben Donaldson and Carter Gordon are both fine club players, but one fancies only a blend of the two is a Test No. 10 over the long haul, with Gordon’s kicking frailties (for goal and to the line) and Donaldson’s tendency to freeze under pressure.”

Provoking scorn in the comments was this paragraph: “Enter 23-year old Edmed, who has shown an ability to see support whilst he makes breaks in a way superior to Gordon. He is also rugged enough to absorb hits in the manner Finn Russell or Jack Crowley are in the Six Nations, which almost always provides a channel for a big twelve to steam through.”

Finally, I noted he beat All Black winger Sevu Reece in a head-to-head race even starting out behind: “fast enough.” All of this was, of course, before his stellar work for North Harbour in the NPC, in which his team had the best attacking statistics. Schmidt sighted him all along.

An early inclusion in Wallaby training was the first clue and now he is included in the touring team at the expense of Lynagh. Lolesio has not played badly but has not claimed the jersey. Now Edmed’s work in the NPC, setting wings Moses Leo, Kade Banks (10 tries), and Sofai Maka free to be numbers one, two and three in clean break players in the competition, as well easily the highest point scorer (137) from a disproportionately difficult set of conversions, with so many from out wide, states an obvious case.

One of his games (a 33-point masterpiece) gained much attention, but I found many of the losses, just as I had during the Waratah season, more instructive.

High line Edmed’s ability to break the line, combine with Shaun Stevenson in playmaking to set the fullback free on streaking runs, make and break hard tackles, take on the rush, and steer his team to perform better than they were expected: this is a CV for the EOYT in which the Wallabies will be underdogs in three of four Tests.

Using possession, in a phase-based team: this is of the essence.

A common fallacy easily debunked is that the Wallabies bombed out of the Rugby World Cup in the pool stage primarily because of a weak pack, pointing to a few admittedly atrocious moments in the lineout or a couple of weak scrums. The truth is the set piece functioned; the Wallaby lineout was the best in the competition, the scrum big and resolute, and the breakdown fine.

Superb tackle busting Wallaby wings did not get much ball because only Romania was less effective at getting to third pass than Australia, and most of that was due to the ineffectiveness at the ten-twelve axis, with Gordon and Donaldson not good at making decisions at crucial times with the plenty of possession they had at their disposal and going it alone (Gordon) or being indecisive (Donaldson) and adding to that, a few kicking woes.

Ben Donaldson of Australia makes a break during the Rugby World Cup France 2023 match between Wales and Australia at Parc Olympique on September 24, 2023 in Lyon, France. (Photo by Craig Mercer/MB Media/Getty Images)

The overlooking of Quade Cooper will always be the worst call at that time, when seen clearly in retrospect.

Flyhalves are the least cookie cutter of players to find: Handre Pollard and Manie Libbok can exist on the same winning side, as can Marcus Smith and George Ford. Developing a field general takes time.

Johnny Sexton was seen for a long time as a poor successor to Ronan O’Gara because he was not as smooth, and Leinster lagged Munster in European cup success. Ireland does not have the massive player pool of France or South Africa and tends to nurture players.

Even now, the remarkable ability of Andy Farrell and his staff to calibrate s𝓀𝒾𝓁𝓁 at losing Connacht (Bundee Aki, Mack Hansen, Finlay Bealham) or discern who within middling Ulster (Stuart McCloskey, Jacob Stockdale) is actually more ready than players on forever winning Leinster or to notice the merits of Jamison Gipson-Park before he was universally lauded, and Ciaran Frawley and Jamie Os𝐛𝐨𝐫𝐧e to be on the pitch to beat the Springboks in Durban ahead of the more touted players.

Farrell would cite Schmidt as a mentor in how to see s𝓀𝒾𝓁𝓁s in players who are not on winning teams. Talent identification is the province of great coaches; Jake White famously puts that s𝓀𝒾𝓁𝓁 at the top of the list of job duties. His ability to see Ruan Pienaar, whilst not having a left foot, could learn to have one, is one example. Farrell assesses willingness and ability to learn at expert level, as does Rassie Erasmus who picks players for Test rugby at positions their provincial coaches have not.

At the other end is Eddie Jones who ran through a hundred or so players at England without making man of them except Courtney Lawes sustainably better or a lasting selection. The Wallabies need more of the informed scalpel than the scattered shotgun approach.

Nothing in Edmed’s performances thus far has shown a reluctance to learn and grow. He is built strongly, he fronts up in losses, even posting his setup on a missed kick on socials to take the heat (only Lolesio slotted a better percentage during the Super Rugby Pacific season among Aussie tens) and won over a New Zealand punditry and fanbase.

The All Blacks’ official site put it this way:

“Edmed … faced a torrid time as the Waratahs endured a horror … season” but quoted Edmed as saying: “I’ve always known I’ve had the ability; it’s always been there, but it’s pretty crazy what a new environment can do, a fresh start and a new perspective.”

At camp, Edmed was gracious to the incumbent: “Noah’s been awesome showing me the attack plan.”

Running that attack plan, and led by Lolesio, the Wallabies scored nine tries less than the third-best scoring team (Argentina at 20 tries), made half the line breaks the Boks did, and far too often made a second or third pass to ground or foe or to an inferior carrying option. In Lolesio’s defence, the scrumhalf position was a revolving door, and the quality of possession was about as poor as Edmed received at the Waratahs.

Still, Schmidt’s game plans have always been built around keeping the ball away from opponents, via high carry stats or intelligent kicking, and put an extraordinary amount of responsibility on his flyhalf of choice. Edmed’s all-sport background (representative cricketer and league pedigree from his 150 NRL cap father Steve) as well an Australian Sevens invitation are allied to an innate humility:

“I don’t think I’m someone who’s really blessed with athletic ability, but I pride myself on my ability to carry hard and direct when we need to. My old man always stressed to me to go square, go hard at the line,” Edmed admitted after the Tahs beat the Crusaders during Super Round (during which he beat Reece to a ball he had no right to) and it is in that formulation we see the most similarity in how the young fireball sees himself to how Schmidt and Sexton see themselves: getting the most of what they have and seeing that as not as much natural talent as others have.

Edmed plays flyhalf like a prop (or his dad) imagines the position should be played.

If he gets a chance up north, he will not be shy about taking on the line.