Departed Wallabies coach Joe Schmidt may have some lingering frustrations around his final Tests, but insists the team is in a significantly better position than when he arrived.
Schmidt is enjoying the first days of retirement after handing over the reins to new coach Les Kiss.
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Kiss started his first day in Sydney on Monday, with Schmidt beginning his post-Wallabies career heading back to New Zealand to help out some old mates.
It's been a rollercoaster 31 Tests for the former Irish boss, convinced out of retirement by RA Head of High Performance Peter Horne after knocking him back on at least four occasions.
Schmidt has close to 25 years as a coach but considers the Wallabies' gig the toughest of his challenges as he began the rebuilding process.
“When I arrived, the first conversations I had with the five captains of the Super Rugby franchises at the time were all pretty despondent. The perception of themselves was very downbeat and there wasn't a lot of confidence," he told reporters.
“...It was the first time I came in and I knew no one. There were two other members of staff, so we had no coaches, no real support staff, because it was a total clean-out after the World Cup. A lot of the players, even post-World Cup, either weren't available or there had been some guys who'd been left out and were teetering on the edge of heading overseas, so it was about convincing them that we could still get together and be competitive."
Wins against England, South Africa and the British & Irish Lions were among the highlights, but were overshadowed by a poor Spring Tour campaign that left Schmidt frustrated with the results, amid a revolving door at flyhalf due to injuries.
“I felt we got on a pretty good linear improvement in the first year with Noah [Lolesio] at 10, and there was confidence growing around him," he believes.
"It was disappointing when he got injured in the first game last year and he had a lack of experience so we tried to supplant the experience and James [O’Connor], he was great to work with but he was coming out of the Crusaders, where he was third choice number 10 and we had the second choice number 10 of the Waratahs [Tane Edmed].
“It was about growing the confidence in those guys and their own confidence, their ability to see and read and play the game. It was challenging but I've learnt a heck of a lot in this window and I've loved the challenge.”
His final stint as Wallabies coach in the Nations Championship saw the Wallabies lose narrowly to Ireland, suffer a second-half fadeout against France and a thumping win over Italy, their biggest in over a decade.
”I'm still so frustrated," Schmidt said on the campaign.
"I thought some of the stuff we played in the first half against Ireland was top-notch…but we had two chances to add to our 24-12 lead just before the half and then to concede a try, albeit a bit unlucky, to go 24-19 and then to concede the try so close to the finish and then miss a couple of kicks on top of it, that was frustrating.
“We still would have only been third, although I felt there were two chances against France in the first half that we certainly could have converted so I felt like we'd earned a bit more than we got and that was frustrating.
“But at the same time, it was nice that it culminated in five points that, in effect, give us eight points. It means we're sitting third in that pool of the six teams and if we can finish in that top half, we'll play a really tough team at the end of November in that play-off weekend."
Schmidt hands off to his former assistant, Kiss, the two spending time in Ireland together.
The ex-Reds coach will begin his tenure with home-and-away Tests against Japan, followed by a two-Test tour of Argentina.
With the home World Cup looming, Schmidt is confident he's put them on the right path for success.
“There's always going to be regrets and there's always going to be frustrations because I think anyone involved in that level of performance is trying to aim at perfection and knowing that it's unattainable," he believes.
"I think we got good. We certainly never got near perfect, but we're in a better place, in my humble opinion, than we were when I arrived.
“I do think there's some belief there now and I think if we can get the players available and get a bit of momentum into even the back end of the Nations Championship. I think there's definitely an opportunity there to finish in that top three and that will be a good stepping stone then into 2027.
“Belief is the base and trust is the glue and I really believe that when we build our self belief and we genuinely know we're good enough then we can trust ourselves and each other...I'd probably try to leave them with a message that trust yourself, trust each other and build that belief amongst some skillsets and some strategy around the game."
