Joe Schmidt signed off as Wallabies coach the way almost nobody expected him to: with a 57-10 demolition of Italy in Perth, and with a set of numbers that will follow him regardless.
Twelve wins from 31 Tests. A 38.7 per cent return, and a losing strike rate no Australian coach has carried in 55 years. Schmidt, speaking after his final match on Saturday, did not dodge any of it.
"I haven't loved the results sometimes. In fact, I've been depressed about the results in some of those games," he said.
What he pushed back on was the idea that the ledger tells the whole story.
"After 25 years of doing this professionally, I know that results are not the only visible demonstration of progress," Schmidt said. "There's lots of positive signs and sometimes those seeds take a while to grow, but there is a fair bit to be excited about."
He inherited very little. Australia had come out of the 2023 World Cup in ruins, and Schmidt arrived to an empty building.
"It was a total clean-out after the World Cup. There were two other members of staff, so we had no coaches," he said.
He asked to be judged on what sits underneath the scoreboard.
"If you look back two-and-a-half years, we have definitely made progress," Schmidt said. "The players are more connected, the leaders are more vocal, and they are the critical mass internally."
There is evidence for that. Australia handed out 27 debuts in 31 Tests, 19 of them in the first season alone, and the group that beat Italy contained Max Jorgensen, Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii, Carlo Tizzano and Ryan Lonergan. The lineout, a genuine liability when he took over, dropped only three throws across the July series. Home Tests sold out six times running. There were nights that will outlast the record: a win over the Springboks at Ellis Park, the first there since 1963, a victory at Twickenham, and the third Test against the British and Irish Lions.
Captain Harry Wilson has said Schmidt "made rugby a lot simpler for us" — the clearest player summary of what changed.
The counter-argument is just as blunt, and it is not really aimed at Schmidt at all. Writing for Planet Rugby, Christy Doran turned the criticism on the governing body.
"Joe Schmidt was never going to face the music. But that shouldn't mean that Rugby Australia doesn't," Doran wrote, pointing at "the bizarre 15-month coaching transition between Schmidt and Les Kiss" that left the Wallabies with a lame-duck coach for more than a year.
"As Rome burns, RA is trying to pretend like everything is fine," he wrote. "It's not - and it hasn't for years."
The unresolved problem is the one Schmidt himself named. Australia used nine different fly-halves in his final 12 months in charge, and the 9-10 axis never settled.
"Your 9-10 is a real hub for you," he said, describing the "inconsistency and availability in that position" as the thing that undid continuity more than any other.
That is now Kiss's inheritance, along with roughly 15 months before a home World Cup. Schmidt, for his part, was not interested in relitigating any of it on Saturday night.
"I have no regrets, no regrets about my commitment," he said. "I have regrets that we didn't quite finish a few chances and convert those."
His parting line to the squad was shorter than his record: "Belief is the base and trust is the glue."
Then he softened. "I'm just relieved and retired, really. I'm going to try to celebrate till midnight," he said. "I've massively enjoyed the group. They're a great group of young men, and there are some very good footy players amongst them."
