Wallabies captain Harry Wilson takes aim at critics as British & Irish Lions loom

As the British and Irish Lions tour creeps closer, there’s one sledge that is being used to motivate the Wallabies – with captain Harry Wilson especially eager to make critics eat their words.

Harry Wilson leans back in his chair and crosses his arms.

“Very, very annoyed,” the incumbent Wallabies captain says.

“And that’s something we can definitely use as motivation, that a year ago people didn’t think we deserved this game.”

He’s talking about comments made by former England and British & Irish Lions halfback Ben Youngs, who after Australia suffered a record loss to Argentina last September, said: “I’m looking at it and thinking the Lions are better off going to South Africa and touring there.

“Imagine your first Lions tour is that Covid one in South Africa behind closed doors and all that comes with it, right, but that’s your first experience for a Lions tour which should be the pinnacle.

Ben Youngs, who poked the bear with his spicy comments, during his playing days for the Lions. Picture: Getty

“Then your next tour is Australia – great country and all that – but you’re dicking every blimming provincial side by 50, 60 points. Then you get into the Test matches and you run riot and have got it wrapped up after two games with an aggregate of 110 points.”

Wilson, the incumbent Wallabies captain, has a fire within that he can barely contain.

“There’s nothing better than when people do count you out, or your back’s against the wall,” he says.

“What are you going to do? Are you going to prove them wrong or just let them dictate your story?

“And that’s the opportunity we have, and it’s in our backyard.”

Wilson has not been confirmed as Australia’s captain for the 2025 Lions series.

Harry Wilson has not forgotten the sledge that will light a fire under the Wallabies this year. Picture: Getty

That appointment will be made closer to the tour, by Wallabies coach Joe Schmidt and Rugby Australia’s hierarchy, allowing for injury setbacks or form fluctuations.

But Wilson is the clear favourite, having led the Wallabies since that nightmare game in La Plata when the side was slaughtered 67-27 by the Pumas, a dark start to the tenure of Australia’s 90th Test captain.

Wilson grew in leaps and bounds over the following months, resulting in the two out of four wins in the spring tour that turned the narrative driven by the likes of Youngs that Australia would be a walkover for the Lions in July.

“We know what sort of team we can be on our day, and obviously that’s just outsiders who are trying to get their name in the headlines, and it’s something you can’t really reflect on too much, but I think by the end of the year most people in the world realise what sort of team we can be,” Wilson says.

Wilson has been at the forefront of the Wallabies revolution over the past 12 months. Picture: Getty

“And that last game against Ireland on that spring tour was, besides England, I think probably one of our best games on the trip, and we had a game there to win, and we couldn’t polish that game off the way we probably would have liked (losing 22-19), but in saying that, we’ll take our learnings from there, and when you’re in the cauldron against the British & Irish Lions, we’ve definitely learned from that.”

In a Lions year, the home unions have failed to measure up to last year’s billing, with France dominating to clinch the Six Nations title.

Only Ireland is ranked in the top five in the world rankings now, and Lions coach Andy Farrell is likely to pick most of his squad from them and England, with a smattering of Scots. Wales, who are ranked 12th in the world behind Fiji, Italy and Georgia, will be lucky to get a single player in the Lions match-day 23.

Tom Lynagh looks dejected after Australia’s humbling at the hands of Argentina last September. Picture: Getty

Wilson, the 25-year-old backrower who has just signed a four-year contract extension with Australian rugby and the Queensland Reds, has kept an eye on the Six Nations.

But he pays closer attention to the notes in his journal, a habit he developed last year as he worked with Wallabies mental skills coach Andrew May to reflect on important moments, and better deliver messages to his teammates.

“I look around the sheds and I’m like, ‘He’s played 50-plus matches, why would he listen to me?’ Just having the other leaders in the team giving me confidence, saying I was going about it the right way, and working with Andrew May, helped me with my confidence for that,” Wilson says.

“For me, I forget, so many times you have a really good conversation and then you might leave, but if I write it down, you can always go back and check on it. That’s something I’ve only implemented in the past probably six months, when probably I’ve been under a bit more pressure, and I’ve found it’s given me so much more confidence and knowing it’s just nice to reflect and then keep learning.

“Before matches, the way I’ve spoken to the team, I would write down before the game how I think I’m going to address the team and then after the game of how I felt the boys went to it, whether I looked around and their eyes were on, and they felt like it meant something to them.

“So then now, if I’m captaining later in the year, I have a bit more of an idea of how I’m going to address the boys before the game.

Wilson (C) has worked with a mental skills coach to refine his leadership qualities. Picture: Getty

“Joe (Schmidt) was so massive for us, he really made us all believe in it, and he would explain in a lot smarter words than I’ll probably use now, but he would just call it the mind gym, how in your head, you can really go into detail about the session you’re about to do before the match, go through the plays.

“So then when you’re on the field, on the training park, you’ve done it in your own head, so you’re not going to be surprised at what’s coming, and that’s something I really bought into and felt a lot of benefits from.”

Another handy resource for Wilson has been his childhood cricket teammate and now Australian Test player Nathan McSweeney, with the pair playing for Brisbane’s Norths club in under-14s.

“I remember when he was making his Test debut last year, I thought that was pretty cool when nine years ago, you were playing junior cricket together, and then at that point I was captain of the Wallabies and he was getting ready to make his debut in Perth against Jasprit Bumrah,” Wilson says.

Queensland Reds and Wallabies players Fraser McReight and Harry Wilson with Australian batsman Nathan McSweeney Picture Queensland Reds

“It was his first year captaining South Australia, and just to be able to talk to people you trust about their experiences and sharing any little bits of gold you can get, you can take from it.

“He’s also probably not the biggest talker probably in the group either, and he’s a big listener. But it’s just the standards he wants to keep at training, and he definitely leads.

“I didn’t go into detail about how he addresses the group, but just the way he holds the standards of training and he leads it from the front in his way, which in cricket is different to rugby, obviously.

“You can’t be in the nets for hours at rugby, but for me it’s about the way I can get out there early, work on my skills, and then when I’m in the session make sure I’m on top of everything as much as I can.”

After being in and out of the Wallabies for three years before 2024, Wilson seems to have finally found his place in the machine.

He won’t allow anyone else to write the rest of his story.

Originally published as Wallabies captain Harry Wilson takes aim at critics as British & Irish Lions loom