A ‘big option’ has emerged to fill Len Ikitau’s 13 jersey for the Wallabies

Wallabies head coach Eddie Jones has revealed that Waratah Izaia Perese has emerged as a strong candidate to replace the injured Len Ikitau for the Bledisloe I Test against the All Blacks next weekend.

Ikitau has been one of the best performers for the Wallabies since Jones returned to the helm but unfortunately suffered a relatively serious shoulder injury against Los Pumas last weekend.

Stepping up

Perese seems to have stepped up in training with the hope of taking the starting spot and Jones pointed out that the centre has lifted his level of training.

“He’s definitely a big option for us. He’s trained really well,” Jones said.

“When he came into (first) camp in June he was probably just making the squad (of 34). He’s really elevated himself, he’s got a great attitude to learn and is impressing us all round.”

Jones admits that Perese has shown that he has the kind of attitude he wants from his players with one of his trademark cricket analogies of late.

“He wants to go, mate. He’s off the long run, he’s banging it in short and not waiting for anyone to tell him what to do.

“That’s the sort of player we want,” Jones said.

“It reinforces the point I keep making. Australian rugby is at its best when we’ve got a bit of arrogance, got a bit of aggression, got a bit of boldness and we’re going at the opposition. It always has to come with smartness.

“That’s the team we want. A team that goes at the opposition.”

Returning stars

There are some returning players to the squad such as Jordan Petaia who could also step into the outside centre role. However, Jones suggested he would rather not have three players all returning from injury as Quade Cooper and Samu Kerevi are already trying to log minutes since their return.

“We have a number of players coming back from long-term injuries. We know those players, as much as we’d like them to be at their best now, they are not going to be at their best until the World Cup,” Jones said.

“We have a plan in place to get each player back to their best. This is part of the process. Quade and Samu are a handful of games back from serious injuries.

“With more exposure to quality training and games, they are going to get a lot sharper.”

READ MORE: Eddie Jones reveals fullback candidates while Michael Hooper is a doubt for All Blacks clash