Wallabies coach responds after Joseph Suaalii handed big opportunity by 'distraught' teammate

As the Wallabies celebrated their biggest-ever points haul in a Cardiff Test with a 52-20 thumping of Wales, Australian coach Joe Schmidt couldn't hide his sadness that Samu Kerevi's landmark 50th cap was marred by a harsh punishment. The Wallabies coach said Kerevi was left "distraught" after copping a red card for a dangerous tackle on Jac Morgan.

The centre's red card will almost certainly mean Joseph Suaalii, who played just 17 minutes off the bench against Wales, will gain a start in midfield against Scotland next week in Kerevi's absence. However, following the game Schmidt vowed to question Kerevi's ban and red card.

Kerevi was shown a yellow card, later upgraded to red, at the start of the second half after his shoulder connect with the Welsh flanker's cheek. Ruled as highly dangerous by the TMO, the decision to upgrade to the 20-minute red didn't sit well with the Wallabies, especially Schmidt, who felt there were mitigating circumstances that should have resulted in him being able to return to the field.

"We're pretty disappointed with that decision around Samu, and we'll have a look at that," said Schmidt. "It's pretty tough for Samu to be sent off in that tackle. He is distraught. Fiftieth game for the Wallabies and he gets a red card. He was trying to drop into the tackle, I thought.

"We were surprised that there was no mitigation, particularly because Jac played on, and there was no ping on his mouthguard, so it was then described as high danger. We will look at that closely, and potentially ask some questions through the right channels." It could have been worse for Schmidt and the Wallabies, however, with Suaalii's dubious shot on Morgan a short time later going unpunished.

Joe Schmidt won't entertain talk of grand slam

Despite making it two wins from two games on the UK tour, with an incredible 96 points in the bag, Schmidt says he's not even contemplating the thought of a first grand slam success in 40 years. Schmidt was quick to put the victory - the biggest ever against Wales in Wales in the 116-year history of clashes between the two countries - into perspective after the win and said his troops must "go up another gear" against Scotland.

“Too far away to contemplate (the grand slam),” Schmidt said. “We have talked about regenerating well tonight and making sure we don’t miss our flight to Edinburgh, get the front half of the week right and see what comes in the back half of the week.

“I have massive respect for Scotland. They will be very tough. I have no doubt we have to go up again against Scotland. They’ve had a really good autumn so far, they were very competitive in the Six Nations, obviously beating England in a cracking game.”

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Schmidt now has a 6-5 win-loss record in his 11 Tests since taking over the side. And the victory over Wales showed grit after the Australian outfit stormed to a 19-0 lead only for the hosts to quickly race back to get within six points at half-time. Schmidt said the "banana skin got pretty slippery" at that stage but applauded his side for not panicking. "I thought the composure was really good," Schmidt said.

"Because at 19-13, you can start to feel you’re suffocating and I thought we lost our shape, even towards the end of the first half. We got a bit ragged. It was to get some momentum back in that second half and I felt in the last quarter we put some good stuff together again."

with AAP