Each of the four nations that contribute to the British and Irish Lions will have had frustrations with their respective autumn games.

Scotland lost to South Africa in their headliner. Ireland were ousted by the All Blacks to begin a clunky campaign. England limped to a solitary victory and Wales… well, they are in a different depth of strife. Undeniably, though, it was a positive month for next year’s Lions series as a whole because of how Australia performed. Joe Schmidt is developing them into a coherent, tough and clever team.

They are not yet a vintage Wallabies crop, but certainly seem capable of hosting a competitive series in 2025. As recently as September, when they were thrashed 67-27 in Argentina, that appeared doubtful.

Five lessons the Lions have learnt

Jones rejects to the fore

The successor to Eddie Jones, who lost seven of nine games in a frantic second stint as Wallabies’ head honcho, was always likely to look calm by comparison. And November represented a reward for Schmidt’s consistency in selection. Noah Lolesio joined Toulon as an injury joker after being jettisoned by Jones in 2023. He started at fly-half in 11 of Australia’s 13 Tests in 2024, coming off the bench during one more.

Harry Wilson, now ensconced as captain, has become a mainstay at the base of the scrum. Len Ikitau is an integral figure in either centre position. Schmidt has also kept faith with Tom Wright, a fourth cast-off of the Jones era. Wright, a full-back who glides into the line and picks off lazy chasers on the counter, will need to be shackled next July.

Matt Faessler, a debutant this year, is the Wallabies’ front-line hooker, with Angus Bell and Nick Frost always likely to be in the go-to tight five. Taniela Tupou is a weapon when fit, and will be working with Dan McKellar and Dan Palmer at the Waratahs soon enough.

The usual formula at scrum-half has been for Jake Gordon to start and Tate McDermott adding verve from the bench. As we will delve into later, openside flanker Fraser McReight is fulfilling his immense potential. And, in Rob Valetini, the Wallabies have one of the most destructive and relentless back-row carriers in the world. The Lions can expect adversaries who are cohesive and stay in the fight.

Schmidt hallmarks plain to see

Breakdown detail, precise phase shape and innovative strike moves are probably the three most prominent traits of a Schmidt side and each of those elements were evident last month.

Australia lost a meagre 10 rucks in possession across four matches. When they built impetus and cycled through phases, such as in the passage against England that led to Wilson’s try, their diligent ball placement on the floor brought about rapid ruck speed. Few defences will be able to contain Bell, Tupou and Valetini if those runners are allowed to pick angles off quick breakdowns.

Max Jorgensen’s first-half try in Dublin, from a tidy midfield loop, could have been orchestrated by Johnny Sexton in the historic Leinster and Ireland teams that Schmidt oversaw. The interplay between Lolesio and Ikitau, helped by a surging decoy line from Joseph-Aukuso Sua’ali’i, was particularly neat. Lolesio and Wright then worked the space for Jorgensen.

Schmidt has a plethora of impressive athletes at his disposal and he is providing them with a framework to make best use of their speed and power. Off turnovers and in broken-field scenarios, the Wallabies will be deadly. Deft passing and offloading from forwards, which will have come under the remit of Laurie Fisher and Eoin Toolan, has also been eye-catching. Toolan, a skills coach as well as head of analysis, was a shrewd appointment.

Finally, a couple of planned moves caught opponents napping. Geoff Parling is the Wallabies’ line-out guru – a lovely storyline given he toured Australia with the Lions in 2013 – but Schmidt is renowned for identifying weakness at set-piece situations. Jeremy Williams helped set up his own acrobatic finish against England by spinning out of the line-out and then returning to take a short throw amid a flurry of dummy jumps.

Up at Murrayfield a fortnight later, Billy Pollard lobbed the ball into the middle for McDermott to sprint on to. The scrum-half’s grubber was collected by Harry Potter. Schmidt uses set-piece platforms to manipulate opponents into unfamiliar situations. Defences have to stay alert.

Fraser McReight is a star

Turning 26 in February, McReight is hardly bursting on to the scene. Many will remember him captaining Australia Under-20s to the final of the World Championship in 2019. A skilful scavenger, he already looked like an heir to George Smith and David Pocock. But these past few weeks, as far as his consistent influence at the top level is concerned, seem to have brought about something of a breakthrough.

It is no coincidence that Australia’s heaviest loss was dished up by Scotland, when McReight was missing from the match-day squad. He returned to face Ireland, and took his tally of jackal turnovers in the Autumn Nation Series to five in three matches. The Queensland Red is also a fine link man in attack. Without a tap tackle from Henry Slade at Twickenham, he would have been able to draw Marcus Smith and release Jorgensen. Containing McReight on both sides of the ball will be key to the Lions’ success.

… and there are back-five options

The role of Will Skelton will be fascinating. Australia’s pack did not need the hulking lock to outwork and overwhelm England. A back row of Valetini, McReight and Wilson was superb. The following week in Wales, with Wilson out due to a head injury, Schmidt moved the rangy Seru Uru into the blindside flanker position and slipped Valetini to No 8. Australia had sufficient jumpers, meaning Skelton could propel their driving maul to devastating effect. Faessler promptly picked up a hat-trick.

Schmidt will be able to configure his back five in different ways. Lukhan Salakaia-Loto and Langi Gleeson have delivered significant cameos this year as well. Schmidt could even explore a six-two split of forwards on the bench thanks to the versatility of Ben Donaldson. For the Lions, whichever way the Wallabies go will inform tactical aspects such as kicking and line-out strategy.

Aerial ability of Sua’ali’i

Sua’ali’i will continue to hone his craft with the Waratahs after a commendable introduction to Test rugby. As a designated chaser of restarts, he capitalised on the escorting crackdown, particularly in the win over England. Five of Australia’s restarts were weighted well enough for Sua’ali’i to compete in the air. From four of those, he helped the Wallabies recover possession.

Such moments can be hugely pivotal. Sua’ali’i’s last leap presented Australia with a scrum and a chance to win the match, which they did in spectacular style thanks to an Ikitau offload to Jorgensen.

Colleagues will become more attuned to the 21-year-old’s offloading, and he will keep acclimatising in subtler areas. Australia are due to face Fiji on July 6 next year, two weeks before the first Test. This feels important. Either way, Sua’ali’i has demonstrated enough for the Lions to think about how they might alter their tackle height to wrap up the ball, or pick aerial specialists of their own.