EXCLUSIVE: The Incident That Made Joe Schmidt Frown at Western Force Prop During Tumultuous Argentina Tour

Tom Robertson, a prop for the Western Force, has shared the amusing tale of a “blunder” he made while touring Argentina with the Wallabies, which resulted in a rather pointed look from coach Joe Schmidt.

Although Robertson did not participate in the match against Argentina in 2024, the 24-time capped Wallaby managed to create confusion for his coach due to an incident off the field.

Under the impression that he had a day off and a full day to travel to Uruguay from Argentina, the prop soon realised he had overlooked an important detail.

“That was a bit of a miscalculation on my part. I had it in my mind that Wednesday was a day off, so I went ahead and booked tickets for 12 of the boys to go to Uruguay and come back, only to forget to check the itinerary and discover we actually had meetings that evening,” he recounted on Stan Sport’s Between Two Posts Extra.

“I had to cancel 12 tickets from Buenos Aires to Uruguay in Spanish while Joe Schmidt was watching me from the sidelines. I was absolutely sweating it, but eventually managed to get the refund—though I’m not entirely sure how I pulled it off. It was a bit of a disaster,” he added.

Currently, Robertson is enjoying a stellar run with the Western Force, having scored a spectacular try against the Queensland Reds over the weekend.

The 30-year-old burst through the defence, almost covering half the field before sliding just before the try line, managing to score despite the tackle attempts from Reds defenders.

Robertson indicated that he never expected to make it across for a try.

“I thought for sure someone would take my legs out from beneath me, but I somehow managed to slide in from about five metres out,” he commented.

“The weather at Suncorp was fantastic, and it helped me get that try in the end.”

Unfortunately for Robertson, the Reds ultimately triumphed with a score of 28-24.