Releasing all stars 'counter-productive' - Schmidt

Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii (centre) fractured his jaw in May but has said he will be ready to face the British and Irish Lions this summer

Australia head coach Joe Schmidt has rejected claims from the British and Irish Lions that he must release all his biggest stars to their Super Rugby sides for warm-up games, saying it would be a "counter-productive" move.

On Monday, Lions chief executive Ben Calveley said "the agreement is very clear" regarding Australia having to free up their players to play in the warm-up fixtures.

The Lions will take on Western Force in their first match of the tour on Australian soil on Saturday.

Five Wallabies - Nick Champion de Crespigny, Dylan Pietsch, Tom Robertson, Darcy Swain and Nic White - have been released to the Perth-based side for the match.

Andy Farrell's side will then play fixtures against the Queensland Reds (2 July), NSW Waratahs (5 July) and ACT Brumbies (9 July) before taking on Australia in the first Test in Brisbane on 19 July.

The Wallabies face Fiji on 6 July in their only warm-up game before the Test series, with Schmidt saying his front-line stars such as Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii and Len Ikitau, who play for the Waratahs and the Brumbies respectively, are unlikely to feature for both their franchises and country.

Props Angus Bell and Taniela Tupou play for the Waratahs and will also probably face the Lions for the first time in the Test series.

"There's some serious plate-spinning at the moment, trying to get ready," Schmidt told the Sydney Morning Herald.

"The ambition is there will be some going back to the Reds and some going back to the Waratahs.

"But in reality, the Lions have got their squad. Are they going to play their best team every week? That's unlikely. So are we going to play all the same players every week?"

Schmidt added: "We play Fiji on a Sunday and the Waratahs play on a Saturday night. So it's not like you can play Saturday and Sunday night against a team like the Lions. It would be counter-productive.

"I'm not sure whether Andy [Farrell] was part of that discussion or whether it was just coming from the CEO, but I've read the tours agreement and it's having the best intention to have the highest-quality players available and playing.

"It's not as specific as saying every Wallaby from a state or a club has to be available to play every game that the Lions come through on."

Former Ireland head coach Schmidt has been keen to protect his star players from injury by keeping them in camp and out of their club sides. His intention is to ring-fence a core of 25 players for the Fiji game.

Four years ago, Covid restrictions prevented South Africa players turning out for their club sides in the build-up to their Test series against the Lions.

However, New Zealand's Rieko Ioane, Sonny Bill Williams, Sam Whitelock and Jordie Barrett all played in warm-ups against the Lions in 2017 and for the All Blacks in that year's Test series.

The Lions' second Test of their tour in Australia is on 26 July at Melbourne Cricket Ground, with the final Test on 2 August in Sydney.