Wallabies rocked as Joe Schmidt set to be without Australia linchpin for British and Irish Lions opener
Wallabies head coach Joe Schmidt and back-rower Rob Valetini.
Australia’s preparations for this weekend’s first Test against the British and Irish Lions has taken another hit with Rob Valetini set to miss the encounter.
It is a major blow for head coach Joe Schmidt, who has already lost his first-choice fly-half, Noah Lolesio, for the entire series.
Back-rower Valetini has arguably been the Wallabies’ one true world-class performer over the past few years but, according to The Roar, he will not take to the field this weekend.
The blindside flanker, who can also play at number eight, missed their warm-up Test against Fiji a week-and-a-half ago, but Schmidt was confident that he, alongside fellow absentees Jake Gordon and Will Skelton, would make the Lions series.
Big Wallabies blow
While Gordon and Skelton appear to have recovered from their respective knocks, that is reportedly not the case for Valetini.
“Will trained fully today (Tuesday), so he’s a bit further ahead from Rob,” Schmidt said. “But Rob, he’s hitting 90 per cent speeds plus, so it’s a look at how they go Thursday and that’ll springboard selection from there.”
Even more concerning for Schmidt is that his likely replacement, Langi Gleeson, is also a doubt for the encounter.
Gleeson stepped into the blindside flanker shoes against the Flying Fijians in the narrow 21-18 triumph, but it is understood that he too has picked up an injury.
However, it is the possible loss of Valetini which will be the biggest disappointment to the Wallabies with the 26-year-old one of the few heavy-duty carriers they have in the pack.
Australia lack size up front and the Brumbies star would have been vital in combatting the heft and athleticism of the Lions forwards.
Should his or Gleeson’s name not be present when the team is officially announced on Thursday, then the position could well be filled by the Exeter Chiefs-bound Tom Hooper.
Hooper or dual opensides
At the start of the year, Hooper was very much out in the cold but, following the head coach’s decision to relax the rules on those who have committed overseas, the back five forward has come back into contention.
The 24-year-old is therefore in line to join Fraser McReight and Harry Wilson in that Wallabies loose trio, although there is the potential for the head coach to go with dual opensides.
Should they look to go down that route then Carlo Tizzano comes into the picture and may well partner McReight at flanker this weekend.
“We ended up with those two (Tizzano and McReight) on the pitch at the same time against the Fijians in the last quarter, so that was dipping our toe in for that sort of selection,” Schmidt said.
“Carlo had such a good season, Fraser was such a big part of our group last year and we’ve tried to keep some continuity in that group.”
