EDDIE JONES HAS a habit of throwing the cat among the pigeons but this is on another level. The controversial 33-man Wallabies squad Jones has picked for the World Cup is choc-a-block with talking points.
Having seen the Springboks name a unique-looking squad featuring four scrum-halves earlier this week, Jones simply said, ‘Hold my beer, mate.’
Will Skelton is the new captain of Australia. The 31-year-old has no headline history of being a skipper, although he is certainly a leader.
When we wrote last month that Jones should build his Wallabies team around Skelton, the captaincy definitely wasn’t in mind. But virtually every team Skelton has been part of – the Waratahs, the 2015 Wallabies, Saracens, and La Rochelle – have been winners. People naturally focus on his size but Skelton’s mentality is a key strength too.
This is important to Jones because, as he has openly said recently, a loser’s mentality has crept into Aussie rugby. They’ve grown too accustomed to losing in Super Rugby and Test rugby, according to Jones. So winner Will Skelton is his new captain.
Previous skipper Michael Hooper is suddenly out of the picture. He has been struggling with a calf injury but other head coaches would have stuck with him. Look at how the Springboks have kept Siya Kolisi in harness. Jones has moved on without sentiment.
The experienced out-half Quade Cooper has been jettisoned too, having seemingly failed to convince Jones that he still has enough quality to influence big games at the highest level.
Instead, all the Wallabies’ eggs are in the Carter Gordon basket. The 22-year-old has shown his promise in recent weeks but still just has four international caps and lots to learn. To be backed like this will boost his confidence, even if it seems obvious that he’d benefit from an experienced 10 to bounce off.
Rather than having Cooper as back-up, Jones has gone for 24-year-old Waratahs out-half Ben Donaldson, who also plays at fullback. He has only two Wallabies caps, agonisingly missing a potentially match-winning kick at goal on debut against Italy last autumn before starting versus Wales. He remains unproven.
Hooper and Cooper aren’t the only notable omissions. Powerful back row Pete Samu is out, lock/flanker Jed Holloway hasn’t made the cut, and powerful wing Tom Wright isn’t included. In fairness, none of them had been shooting the lights out and Jones clearly doesn’t want to invest more time in players who hadn’t been helping the Wallabies win.
Outside centre Len Ikitau missing out is more of a shock, although he has been dealing with a shoulder injury. Still only 24, the classy midfielder will surely bounce back.
Jones has gone for inexperienced faces in virtually every part of the squad. 25 of the 33 are going to their first World Cup. It’s inarguable that he and Rugby Australia have the 2025 Lions tour and even the 2027 World Cup in mind with their selection. Both of those events are on home soil, so there’s more onus on them to be successful. This World Cup was never going to come with a huge burden of expectation, even less so now.
The frustrating thing for Wallabies fans – some of whom are irate at this selection – is that the World Cup draw has never been kinder. They’re up against Wales, Fiji, Georgia and Portugal in Pool C. That would have been viewed as a gimme at some previous World Cups, but it now looks laden with danger.
South Africa, France, Ireland, New Zealand, and Scotland are all on the other side of the draw too, meaning the Wallabies wouldn’t have to face any of them in the quarter-finals if they make it.
There is pessimism among many Australian supporters today, though. Jones’ squad is seen as madness in some quarters.
Uncapped 27-year-old Western Force scrum-half Issak Fines-Leleiwasa has been included and will be a completely new name to some. He’s lightning-quick and could even be used on the wing if needed. To be fair, the Aussies have lots of options at scrum-half but some of them just aren’t of Test standard. If we’d been in Jones’ boots, we’d have called on former All Blacks scrum-half Tawera Kerr-Barlow, who was interested in pledging his allegiance.
Ex-rugby league sensation Suliasi Vunivalu also makes the cut despite his failure to make an impact in union since switching codes in 2021. His most recent Test against the Springboks in the Rugby Championship showed up major deficiencies but Jones clearly likes his athleticism.
Jones has labelled Donaldson and back row Josh Kemeny as ‘utility players’ in his squad list, having stated that Kemeny could play on the wing thanks to his speed. France have been experimenting with flanker Sekou Macalou on the wing in recent times and it has gone well so far, opening up new possibilities for their 6/2 bench split.
But Kemeny has one cap at the age of 24 and the Wallabies only have one more game until the World Cup, so there’s not much time to try it.
In reality, Jones’ squad is a 19/14 split of forwards and backs, with nine specialist front rows – the injured Allan Alaalatoa will be missed – four locks, and six back rows, with Tom Hooper capable of playing as a lock too.
With 14 backline slots to play with, Jones has accepted the squeeze in picking Gordon and Donaldson as his options at number 10. The experienced scrum-half Nic White could possibly be an emergency option at out-half.
Two of the Wallabies’ four centres can play on the wing, so there’s flexibility in the outside backs.
And it’s out wide where Australia could have two stars of the World Cup. 18-year-old prodigy Max Jorgensen has yet to debut and is just back from a knee injury but he is seen as a generational talent.
And we’ve noted in recent weeks again just how dangerous 22-year-old wing Mark Nawaqanitawase is. He has to improve in defence but his influence in attack has been pivotal. At times, the game plan is simply about getting the ball to ‘Marky Mark’ as soon as possible. His jumping power is phenomenal and he will be a menace.
And that’s one thing to point out here – there is talent in the Australia squad. It’s an absolute bombshell of a selection and extremely callow in terms of experience, which is seen as crucial at World Cups and is something Jones himself has talked about relentlessly in the past. Rarely before have we seen a side building for the future at a World Cup. But there are the makings of a good team in this group of Australian players.
Perhaps the components will come together quickly but there’s an obvious danger that this ends with a pool-stage exit. Rugby Australia has clearly accepted Jones’ case that it’s time to start building for the future. It might well involve pain in France.
- This article was updated at 10.18pm to correct an error stating that Josh Kemeny was uncapped.
