Wallabies coach Joe Schmidt praises Western Force star duo Zac Lomax and Ben Donaldson

Western Force stars Zac Lomax and Ben Donaldson have both had points to prove to Joe Schmidt this season — and the Wallabies coach has liked what he has seen from the two potential Test starters. Schmidt has been in Perth this week to run a rule over the Force players vying for contention in his Wallabies squad ahead of their three Nations Championship games against Ireland, France and Italy. The latter of the three home games will come against Italy at HBF Park in July, which will also mark Schmidt’s final game as Wallabies coach before he hands over to Queensland Reds boss Les Kiss ahead of the 2027 Rugby World Cup. Former NRL State of Origin star Lomax has enjoyed a good start to life in the 15-aside game, with the Force repeatedly using high kicks as a key part of their attacking game to unlock his aerial prowess. Schmidt said he had enjoyed good conversations with the cross-code convert and he wanted to see Lomax use the Force’s final three games of the year — all at home — to develop his playing rhythm. “There’s a whole lot of elements to that playing rhythm. It’s trying to get him to the right place at the right time, because that’s a little bit different from the 13-man code,” Schmidt said. “Certainly, his aerial attack has been strong. I thought Lawson Creighton did a great job against him a couple of weeks ago (against the Waratahs) and then the Brumbies really contested him pretty well. “He forced a couple of errors and got one clean. More of that will add value for him. “And then defensively, it was a very tough first game up against the Crusaders. They really challenged his side of the field a few times and he was problem solving that really well. “It’s great for him to have George Bridge inside him talking to him, Mac (Grealy) is good at full-back and that’s part of it as well. “When you first come in and you’re expecting someone to deliver those combinations are so important; you’re never defending by yourself, you’re always trying to stay connected and defend as a connected line.” After Schmidt dropped fly-half Donaldson from the Wallabies’ end-of-season spring tour to Europe last year, the Force star has responded with arguably his most impressive super Rugby Pacific season yet. Donaldson will miss the Force’s Saturday duel against the Reds and Wallabies rival for the 10 jersey Carter Gordon with a quad injury, but sits second in Super Rugby for points and is third for goal-kicking accuracy at 80.9 per cent. He is also challenging the line more as a runner, while Schmidt also said he was happy with Donaldson’s evolution of the defensive side of the ball. “We know what his strengths are. If he’s bringing the ball to line and is playing at the line, that’s when he plays best. His show-and-go game is such a threat, because he’s got good acceleration and good top end speed as well with a good stride,” he said. “We know the length of this kicking game is another strength and his short kicking game to be attacking, just in behind the defensive line or into the corners or across the field, they’re all strengths of his game. “On the other side of the ball, he’s done a really good job. There’s a good example last week (against the Brumbies) when Corey Toole got through, he’s a bit of a handful one-on-one in the backfield, and he (Donaldson) gave him one direction to go at, and Tooley decided to step back against his right arm and he wrapped him up really well. “That was a good example of where Donno has improved and it’s just about the repeatability of that to give him confidence and us confidence that he can deliver on those aspects of his game.”