Wallabies team: Winners and losers as ‘massive team man’ reaches ‘incredible’ landmark but ‘metrics’ count against fit-again half-back
James Slipper is set for his 150th Wallabies appearance but Jake Gordon, inset, will be watching from the stands
After Thursday’s confirmation of the Wallabies’ 23-man match-day squad to face the All Blacks at Eden Park on Saturday, here are our key winners and losers from the announcement in Auckland.
Winners
James O’Connor
It’s crazy how the pendulum can swing so quickly in rugby. The veteran was overlooked by Joe Schmidt for the series versus the British and Irish Lions, but he now can’t stop racking up the caps.
Saturday will be the 35-year-old’s fifth appearance in five Wallabies matches and so altered has his status become, he was even allowed by the head coach to fly to England last week to sign off on some preparations ahead of joining Leicester.
Not only has O’Connor been retained in the Test match squad in the same week he was originally expecting to be with the Tigers ahead of their Premiership opener at Bristol, the 2025 Super Rugby title winner with the Crusaders has been promoted to the No.10 shirt after subbing for the two matches against Argentina.
“Pressure cooker atmospheres”
His greater experience in pressure cooker atmospheres swung the jersey his way at the expense of rookie Tane Edmed, who drops to the bench after his difficult first Test start versus the Pumas.
O’Connor’s redemption is one in the eye for those who believe Test rugby is no country for old men. It is. Experience is worth its weight in Australian gold.
James Slipper
Another Aussie old boy rejoicing following the latest Wallabies team announcement is the ancient loosehead who is flourishing at the age of 36.
It was in Townsville when he was wheeled out for start-of-the-week media duties, Schmidt selling him a pup as it turned out he wasn’t getting a recall to the team after a concussion in Johannesburg in his 148th Test ended in involvement against the Springboks and saw him miss out on Cape Town.
Slipper admitted at that briefing in Townsville that there were no guarantees that he could draw level in second place on the all-time rugby caps list with Sam Whitelock, the 150-cap New Zealander.
However, that is the very milestone Slipper will run out to at Eden Park following his retention in the Wallabies front-row. “150 Tests is incredible,” enthused Schmidt after naming his team.
“The thing I love about James is that he is still trying to get better. He is still working on his game to add a little bit more value to the team as best he can, and he is a massive team man.”
Len Ikitau
There are players whose immense value to a team is only really noticed when they are absent from the side. This description applied to the Wallabies midfielder last time out against Argentina in Sydney.
A laceration on his knee following the Rugby Championship win over the Pumas in Townsville hadn’t sufficiently healed for him to retain his spot after a run of 18 successive starts stretching back to the July 2024 win over Georgia.
That left Hunter Paisami named for a rare recent start, and he wasn’t a weak link in making a dozen tackles and making 68 metres from 10 carries. However, the soon-to-be 27-year-old Ikitau has an irresistible consistency to his game these days that shouldn’t be underestimated.
He has also formed a potent midfield partnership with Joseph Suaalii, a combination that has been at the heart of the Wallaby renaissance since last November under Schmidt.
The duo make the Aussie backline hum, and Ikitau’s enforced absence the last day made him a must-recall for Eden Park.
Lukhan Salakaia-Loto
You have to go back a year to find when Salakaia-Loto was last named as a starter in the Wallabies team. His last six appearances have been as a sub, but his ability to physically bang opponents on the carry earned him his long-awaited upgrade for this weekend.
What gives? Last weekend’s development that Rob Valetini had been ruled out with a “calf tightness” caused a serious headache for Schmidt as the blindside was his team’s most industrious Round Four forward.
Making 46 metres off 13 carries was no mean feat against the parsimonious Argies, and there was no point in Schmidt switching Tom Hooper to blindside – as already happened this season – if a serious ball carrier wasn’t added to the pack.
This is the exact reason for Salakaia-Loto’s recall. “Tom Hooper is that big engine worker and he carries well but not quite the same as Bobby Valetini or Langi Gleeson or Lukhan,” explained the head coach on Thursday.
“It’s just to give us a little bit more in the ability to get a little bit of momentum because Lukhan is a big, skilful man and it allows us to put Tom Hooper back to the side of the scrum where he has done really well.”
Having last started away to Argentina in September 2024, it’s a massive opportunity for the recently turned 29-year-old Salakaia-Loto to remind fans of his talents.
Losers
Tane Edmed
The 25-year-old popped up at the start of the week in Auckland, talking about how this time last year he was a local playing for North Harbour in the New Zealand NPC.
It was a heart-warming story, going from off the beaten track in Australian eyes to breaking through for a first Wallabies start last time out against Argentina in Sydney.
With several injuries ruling out other pretenders to the No.10 shirt and O’Connor, the veteran held in reserve, Edmed held all the cards running out for his first Test start but his hand quickly folded.
It was horrible seeing him charged down by Julian Montoya from a free-kick for the concession of an early try. While he went on to have some better moments, Australia were miles behind on the scoreboard when he was eventually yanked off.
That disappointment has now been doubled down on with his demotion to the Wallabies bench. For sure, it makes sense from a team perspective. The last thing Australia need is a Test rookie losing his head at a claustrophobic Eden Park.
However, Edmed’s surrender of the starting jersey after just one match is a setback for a player who is likely to quickly slip down the pecking order once his sidelined rivals pitch up fit. He had his chance to make a bold statement, and unfortunately didn’t take it.
Andrew Kellaway
With Tom Wright enduring a season-ending injury in the Cape Town defeat to South Africa, the path seemed clear for the soon-to-be 30-year-old Kellaway to make the full-back spot his for the remainder of the year.
He would have been frustrated with only getting a bench role in the two matches he was involved in against the Lions, and that frustration would have carried over to South Africa in August where he was again named twice as a replacement.
This month’s Argentina series marked his return as a starter for the first time since last November’s match in Ireland and he was no slouch, playing the full 80 on both occasions and igniting the fightback in Sydney with his 67th-minute try.
He would have travelled to New Zealand fully expecting to start, but word broke on Wednesday that he was no longer a shoo-in to feature against the All Blacks, the team he scored his first three Test tries against.
A calf strain proved too much of a hindrance, and his place at full-back has gone to the switched Max Jorgensen whose place on the wing had been handed to Harry Potter.
Front-row subs
It’s one thing getting dropped from the starting team to the bench, as has happened with rookie out-half Edmed, but it’s quite another to be a sub who gets excluded altogether from the matchday 23. There simply isn’t any consolation to grasp.
This is the fate that has befallen front row pair Zane Nonggorr and Josh Nasser. The sub tighthead and hooker were given a heap of Round Four game time against the Pumas, Nonggorr taking over from Taniela Tupou at the interval, and Nasser sent on for Billy Pollard with 54 minutes played and the Wallabies trailing 7-25.
Both played a part in the ensuing comeback that resulted in their team securing two bonus points in the 26-28 loss, enough to send the Wallabies to the top of the table.
Their reward for that effort, though, was to learn they are surplus to requirements for Round Five as Schmidt has named Allan Alaalatoa as his preferred back-up tighthead and Brandon Paenga-Amosa as his back-up hooker. It’s another example of players with greater experience winning the selection race in Auckland.
Jake Gordon
His return to fitness was the reason why the effervescent Nic White retired last week for the second time in a short few months, but his inclusion in the Wallabies squad has been followed by selection in the match-day 23.
It’s a decision that could ultimately haunt Schmidt. With Tate McDermott promoted to the starting XV for his 50th cap, with White now putting his feet up, the expectation was for the 31-cap Gordon to come straight back onto the bench. But that hasn’t happened.
Seemingly, the training ground metrics weren’t in Gordon’s favour in Auckland, and it has left the head coach turning to the uncapped Ryan Lonergan to take up a bench spot alongside Edmed.
It means the back-up Wallaby half-backs have just three caps between them, a potentially sticky situation. “Jake trained this week, but we could tell from his metrics he wasn’t quite (ready),” explained Schmidt.
“He’s getting back to where he needs to be and by the time next week comes, he will be fully ready but just to put him in a little bit underdone in a game that could be very fast paced, we didn’t believe was in his best interests.
“Ryan Lonergan has been sitting in the squad for a while waiting for his opportunity. He is super fit, he’s sharp, he is conditioned in terms of fitting into the squad.”
