Rugby Australia chief executive Phil Waugh says Wallabies improvement vital to capitalise on British and Irish Lions

It's not unrealistic to say that over the last couple of years, Australian rugby has been facing a serious reckoning.

Not only was its place on the field as a rugby superpower under threat, but interest in the code appeared to be slowly ebbing away.

There can be no sugarcoating it.

The men's national team, arguably the entire union itself, was in a mess.

After years of financial concerns off the pitch led to a $14 million loan from World Rugby and saw 40 per cent of staff being laid off during the pandemic, things were sliding on the pitch too, with the nadir arriving at the 2023 Rugby World Cup, as Eddie Jones's side limped out before the quarter-final stage for the first time ever.

Jones's defection to Japan soon after, with allegations that he was negotiating his exit while his side were underperforming during the tournament (which he still denies), almost felt depressingly par for the course.

It meant that the first six months of Phil Waugh's reign as Rugby Australia chief executive — he was appointed in July 2023 — were as turbulent as he could have imagined.

"I came in at an interesting time," Waugh tells ABC Sport from London, where he has been following the Wallabies on their Spring Tour.

"The first few months is very much around getting to know people better around the organisation, but also then just ensuring that the Wallabies were not disrupted leading into the World Cup.

"On reflection, it was a difficult period, but … since the World Cup and during that destabilisation of the World Cup, that's been sort of where I've been able to lean in and lead in the right way, hopefully, to get us back to where we are today in a reasonably short period of time given the start position in November last year."

That baptism of fire could have sent any rational person running for the hills as the Wallabies appeared to be in decline just at the time the code needed to capitalise on the biggest opportunity to win over the public it would have in a generation, with a Lions tour in 2025, a men's and women's World Cup in 2027 and 2029 and an Olympics in 2032 all taking place on home soil.

But fast-forward 12 months and there appear to be green shoots emerging from the chaos, a positive prognosis to revive a code that was desperately ailing.

A heartening northern hemisphere tour, winning two Tests and coming close in two more, saw the Wallabies regain some much-needed confidence ahead of the start of an era-defining three years for the men's national side.

That came as the fifth-ranked Wallaroos claimed their first major piece of international silverware, winning the WXV2 tournament to qualify for the 2025 World Cup in England and former Wallaby Dr Brett Robinson was named as chair of World Rugby, the first time a person from the southern hemisphere as claimed that role.

Things are looking up.

"I think this is a journey and by no means are we the finished product in turning things around," Waugh says.

"But given where we were 12 months ago and, you know, the considered approach that we've made strategically, on structure, appointment of personnel and then most important is probably around connection and the amount of time we spent connecting with our member unions, Super Rugby clubs, players and just brought in the broader Australian public.

"It takes time to rebuild trust and to build connection. But that's certainly been the focus over the last 12 months.

"We've got a lot of work to do but there's certainly been some good progress."

The most obvious progress has been on the pitch, led by Harry Wilson — the Reds flanker praised for his maturity by Waugh, a man who knows more about the rigours of playing in the back row than most: "When you reflect on 2024 and the pleasing elements, that identification and growth of Harry as a leader has probably been one of the most pleasing."

But it's not happened overnight.

Heading into the Spring Tour, the Wallabies had won just one of their five Rugby Championship matches and were ranked ninth in the world — they're now up to eighth — although Waugh rightly points out that there are fewer harder runs of fixtures than playing three of the four World Cup semifinalists back-to-back, including on their home patch — "it's actually the most, in today's terms, the most difficult tournament to be involved in," he quite rightly points out.

Waugh acknowledged the brutal, 67-27 record defeat against Argentina in Santa Fe was "difficult" but there were still signs that new coach Joe Schmidt was on the right path.

"As a general reflection of the Rugby Championship, we made progress but we just weren't good enough," Waugh says.

"The real question coming into the November series was how good are we and exactly where are we at against the other teams that play a different style in other geographies in the world.

"I was reasonably optimistic we were on the right path but I wasn't quite sure exactly where we were at.

"And on reflection, I still think that whilst we had that incredible win against England and a pretty polished performance against Wales, there was probably a disappointing outcome in Edinburgh [losing 27-13 to Scotland] and then, whilst people will say we led for 72 or 73 minutes against the number two team in the world [Ireland], I still think that we probably left a win out there on the field.

"So it was a good understanding exactly where we're at, I think, after this tour, when you play four good teams back-to-back."

At the heart of that uptick in results and performances is Joe Schmidt, the former Ireland boss who has come in and stamped his imprint on both the style of play on the field, and the culture off it, with Waugh heartened by how the side are interacting with the community in and around training, whether it be interacting with supporters or completing hospital visits.

"I think culture wins, and Joe is a good human and he surrounds himself with good people," Waugh says.

"We've seen that drives a really strong culture and I think we're seeing that come through in the way that the guys are behaving both on and off the field.

"They're doing things that matter and I think we're really seeing that cultural benefit come through from a Joe Schmidt-led environment and that's probably the most pleasing aspect, I think.

"You naturally see that behavioural change happen on the field and I think that we've seen that level of discipline come through with the team. There's been a considerable uplift in the Wallaby teams' discipline, and discipline and culture win Test matches.

"I think you can definitely see that rubbing through onto their performance on the field. There's still a long way to go, but there's certainly that impact that Joe has had, which is quite easily identifiable on the field."

That improvement in performance was much-needed ahead of a Lions Tour that some sections of the British media were already decrying as being a mismatch.

Former England scrum-half Ben Youngs stoked the flames of controversy by suggesting the Lions should tour South Africa instead of facing off against the weak Wallabies.

"There's been a desire for Australian rugby to be strong," Waugh says.

"So, whilst there's been some criticism, I think there's also been a real desire and hope that Australian rugby and the Wallabies could get back to to where we have been historically.

"So I won't say there's been an element of relief in the north, but I think that whilst the English were disappointed they lost the Test match to us, I think they were also thrilled that it was a really competitive Test match at Twickenham.

"With the build-up, there was some reasonably interesting commentary around the Wallabies' competitiveness, I think there's been a real sense of excitement that the Lions tour will be of the competitive nature that Lions tours should be.

"That's probably been my reflection of being up here, that Joe is clearly doing a good job, the players are responding well and this team, given another seven or so months, will be competitive when the Lions hit the shores of Australia."

While the northern nations can hone selection quandaries through the Six Nations, Schmidt has no such luxury, with the Wallabies' next Test scheduled for July 19 in Brisbane, against the Lions.

That places a further emphasis on another of the key pillars of Australian Rugby, the Super Rugby teams.

This is another area where Waugh has had to display strong leadership, as the Melbourne Rebels were culled and both the Waratahs and Brumbies have been folded into Rugby Australia's operational orbit, with Rugby Australia taking full control of the Brumbies in July, following the Waratahs lead from November 2023.

It's a model that, around the world, is reaping rewards — both Ireland and Scotland, the two sides that beat Australia this spring, both made the move to a centralised system over the last few years with an express aim of assisting the national team.

"Super Rugby is critically important to us," Waugh says.

"I think the growth of the 2024 season [where Australian teams won 11 of 30 matches against their New Zealand counterparts, the highest percentage of wins since South African sides left the competition in 2020] was probably as material as we've seen over the last period of time, because the quality of rugby was markedly improved from where it's been over the last few seasons.

"We made progress in 2024. I think what we'll see hopefully on the back of this year's international season is that confidence and the responsibility of our guys to perform in those Super Rugby environments.

"I'll always say you can't expect to beat the All Blacks if you're not beating them consistently throughout the Super Rugby season. So for us, it's gonna be really important to carry the momentum that we've had through the international season into the Super Rugby season and have some success there, because it makes it very difficult going into a Lions series if you've had poor Super Rugby performances.

"You go back to 2001, where we won the Lions series, the Brumbies won Super Rugby. So, yeah, you really need that success at Super level to then get the success at an international level."

Performances at Super Rugby level are clearly being rewarded, too.

Schmidt has handed 19 players their Wallabies debut in 2024, the highest number in a calendar year since 1928, a sign, Waugh notes, that shows the level of competitiveness at Super Rugby level and increasing the depth of talent across all positions, something the Wallabies have lacked in recent years.

Additionally, a further selection of players toured the UK as part of an Australia A side, replacing the much-missed touring experience so many players were exposed to when South African teams played in Super Rugby.

Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii is another player who will doubtless benefit from more game time at Super Rugby level, following his impressive introduction to the national team squad.

The 21-year-old's successful integration into the Wallabies team has pleased Waugh, especially given the risk Rugby Australia took in coaxing him over to the 15-man-code.

"Obviously, he's got amazing physical attributes and his potential on the field is enormous. But I think it's the actual integration culturally that's been probably most pleasing," Waugh says, paying credit to the players around him, such as Len Ikitau and Andrew Kellaway, for seamlessly folding the prodigy into the side.

In short, the Wallabies are seemingly back on the right path.

And it couldn't have come at a more vital time, as the eyes of the rugby world gradually shift Down Under for the upcoming Lions tour and subsequent World Cups in 2027 and 2029.

"It's an opportunity for us to showcase what is so good about our game," Waugh says.

"Off the field, you've got fiercely supportive supporters, but everyone gets on and there's no violence and it's a friendly, inclusive environment to be a part of.

"I think that's quite unique to our sport, to have that level of passion yet that level of camaraderie across different nations.

"So when you get 30,000 or 40,000 Lions supporters into Australia, it's as much about elevating that level of camaraderie and culture as it is around the battle that we'll have on the field.

"It's a great opportunity for us to maximise that excitement, but you can't do that unless you're competitive on the field, and I think we're making good progress there.

"These major events, the longer that they go on for, the more relevance they create and every time the Lions tour gets bigger and bigger, and we've got a responsibility, within Australian rugby, to make sure we can make the most of it."