Samu Kerevi and Fraser McReight to start for Wallabies against Argentina

Samu Kerevi and Fraser McReight have been called up to the Wallabies’ starting line-up as part of the changes for their Rugby Championship Test against Argentina in Sydney on Saturday.

Head coach Eddie Jones has made five alterations in all to his run-on side after last weekend’s defeat to the Springboks in their tournament opener in Pretoria.

In the backline, Kerevi comes in at inside centre at the expense of Reece Hodge while Mark Nawaqanitawase replaces Suliasi Vunivalu on the right wing.

Michael Hooper ruled out through injury

Up front, McReight takes over from the injured Michael Hooper on the openside flank while Richie Arnold is set to make his first Test start, replacing Nick Frost.

The final change in the forwards sees Jed Holloway coming in on the blindside flank for Tom Hooper, who is also ruled out through injury.

McReight’s selection in place of co-captain Hooper was a precautionary measure and Jones said he does not expect the veteran back-row to be on the sidelines for too long.

“Yeah, he should be running by Friday,” he said. “It’s only a small injury but he’s too valuable a player to risk for this Test.”

Jones has overhauled his replacements bench, bringing in props Angus Bell and Pone Fa’amausili while second-row Matt Philip and the versatile Rob Leota have also been included as he opts for a six/two, forwards/backs split on the bench.

Leota hasn’t played since rupturing his Achilles during last year’s Bledisloe Cup series while fellow Rebels loose forward Josh Kemeny is in line for a Wallabies Test debut.

Jones has retained 35-year-old Quade Cooper at fly-half and resisted the temptation to replace him with promising youngster Carter Gordon, who continues on the bench.

Gordon scored a well-taken long-range try on debut at Loftus Versfeld after Cooper was starved of quality possession.

Jones said it’s tough trying to develop a squad capable of winning this year’s World Cup in France and field the best team to beat Los Pumas.

“We’re running a marathon this year and we didn’t get off the start line like we wanted to, but we get another opportunity to find our rhythm this weekend against a tough Argentinian side,” he said on Thursday.

“It’s about winning but there’s a couple of processes we’ve got. We’ve got the process of today, we’ve got the process of tomorrow. So that’s a continual balancing act but obviously Saturday’s the priority.”

Jones explained why he felt it was too soon to start 22-year-old Gordon.

Gordon still ‘finding his feet’

“He’s a great young player, but he’s a young kid at the moment. He’s finding his feet,” he said. “Would Quade have played like that in the last 10 minutes when there was plenty of space and there was a bit of quick ball?

“So you got to be careful of that. It’s like a batsman coming in the second innings and there’s no result on and he gets a quick 50 and they say, ‘Oh s***, he should be playing next Test’.

“So Quade is coming back from a serious Achilles injury so we want to give him some time and Carter’s coming through beautifully. Couldn’t be happier with him.

“He’s one out, one back, we’re just holding him back at the moment and we’ll let him go when we get over the rise but we’re not at the rise yet.”

Australia: 15 Tom Wright, 14 Mark Nawaqanitawase, 13 Len Ikitau, 12 Samu Kerevi, 11 Marika Koroibete, 10 Quade Cooper, 9 Nic White, 8 Rob Valetini, 7 Fraser McReight, 6 Jed Holloway, 5 Will Skelton, 4 Richie Arnold, 3 Allan Alaalatoa, 2 David Porecki, 1 James Slipper (c)
Replacements: 16 Jordan Uelese, 17 Angus Bell, 18 Pone Fa’amausili, 19 Matt Philip, 20 Rob Leota, 21 Josh Kemeny, 22 Tate McDermott, 23 Carter Gordon

Date: Saturday, July 15
Venue: CommBank Stadium, Sydney
Kick-off: 19:45 local (10:45 BST, 09:45 GMT)
Referee: Jaco Peyper (SARU)
Assistant Referees: Paul Williams (NZR), James Doleman (NZR)
TMO: Marius Jonker (SARU)

READ MORE: Five storylines to follow ahead of the Australia v Argentina clash in the Rugby Championship