This is the hardest Wallabies squad to pick in a decade, but there is a core to build around
By Paul Cully
The lack of Wallabies chat is giving some a case of itchy feet - no wider training groups or training squads to supply an inkling of Joe Schmidt’s thinking.
Get used to it. Schmidt’s modus operandi is to give little or nothing away - in some ways he’s the anti-Eddie.
There’s probably another good reason why Schmidt hasn’t given much away on Wallabies selections, with the Wales and Georgia Tests just a few months away. Joe himself might not know - and why should he?
In the past decade or so of putting together Australian Super Rugby teams of the week, this year is unquestionably the hardest I’ve encountered in terms of then putting together a Wallabies squad.
In fact, my list of Probables (see list below) is smaller than the list of Possibles. In fact, if Schmidt gets a 32-man squad, my 16 Probables account for 50 per cent. That’s a very low number - settled teams have about 75-80 per cent locked in by this stage.
From now on, every game in Super Rugby will be a virtual final, or a real one. There really are Wallabies jerseys up for grabs in the coming weeks.
Wallabies coach Joe Schmidt with scrumhalf Nic White.Credit: Getty
There is, however, a core group of players that will give the Wallabies something to build around this year. Injuries have reduced the size of this group (Harry Wilson and Lukhan Salakaia-Loto are absent for that reason), and it can’t yet be called a “spine” because of the uncertainty around the best No.10.
But the pool is: Matt Faeesler, Jordan Uelese, James Slipper, Allan Ala’alatoa, Zane Nonggorr, Taniela Tupou, Nick Frost, Rob Valetini, Fraser McReight, Nic White, Tate McDermott, Jake Gordon, Hunter Paisami, Len Ikitau, Tom Wright and Andrew Kellaway.
That’s a group you could name at this stage with a reasonable degree of confidence, even though the issues on the loosehead side of scrum - and the relative depth on the tighthead with Tupou and Zane Nonggorr - could mean Ala’alatoa being asked to switch sides.
Collectively, they have a set of attributes vital for the Tests against Wales and Georgia: there’s experience and form and a little bit of scar tissue from last year. Gordon, Ikitau and Wright are the key men here. They could all have dropped the bottom lip after a difficult 2023, but they’ve all gone the other way. Wilson is another player in that category.
Waratahs playmaker Jake Gordon shapes as a key man for the Wallabies this year.Credit: Getty
Some players haven’t coped well with the 2023 car crash - it was acknowledged at the time that there might be lasting damage - but the blokes who have bounced back will appeal to Schmidt.
There are no Probables at No.10, although that’s not a reflection on some good performances this year. But the contenders all have their own strengths and weaknesses and are extremely tough to split.
Ben Donaldson and Carter Gordon would be locked in if it weren’t for the fact that their goalkicking can be erratic. Both are kicking at less than 80 per cent this season: that’s just not Test standard, and Schmidt will be asking himself if he can carry both.
But go back to the core group. It’s a good group of footballers, and if you break it down individually, about eight or nine of them are also trending upwards in terms of their performances this year, with improvements left in them.
There’s been a bit of plateauing at the more mature end of the age spectrum, but that’s a story as old as the hills: you don’t jettison those blokes because their experience is gold.
Is there ground for optimism? Well, the visiting Welsh are dealing with their own issues, winless in the Six Nations and without a single region in the top eight of the United Rugby Championship. Those Tests are winnable, and then everyone is suddenly having a much brighter conversation.
Wallabies contenders
Hookers
Probable: Matt Faeesler, Jordan Uelese.
Possible: Billy Pollard, Brendon Paenga-Amosa.
Props
Probable: James Slipper, Allan Ala’alatoa, Taniela Tupou, Zane Nonggorr.
Possible: Sam Talakai, Matt Gibbon, Blake Schoupp, Alex Hodgman.
Second row
Probable: Nick Frost.
Possible: Darcy Swain, Izack Rodda, Jeremy Williams, Jed Holloway, Miles Amatosero, Ryan Smith, Tom Hooper, Cadeyrn Neville, Lukhan Salakaia-Loto, Josh Canham.
Back row
Probable: Rob Valetini, Fraser McReight.
Possible: Charlie Cale, Josh Kemeny, Lachlan Swinton, Liam Wright, Rob Leota, Harry Wilson.
Halfbacks
Probable: Nic White, Tate McDermott, Jake Gordon.
Possible: Lachlan Lonergan, Kalani Thomas.
No.10
Possible: Noah Lolesio, Carter Gordon, Tom Lynagh, Ben Donaldson, Tane Edmed.
Midfield
Probable: Hunter Paisami, Len Ikitau.
Possible: Josh Flook, Lalakai Foketi, Hamish Stewart, Bayley Kuenzle, Filipo Daugunu.
Outside backs
Probable: Tom Wright, Andrew Kellaway.
Possible: Corey Toole, Tim Ryan, Darby Lancaster, Jock Campbell, Kurtley Beale, Mark Nawaqantiwase.
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