LYON, France — Wallabies coach Eddie Jones has made three changes and one further positional shift to his run-on team to face Wales, with Tate McDermott and Ben Donaldson set to form a new halves pairing for the Rugby World Cup clash in Lyon.
The Wallabies will be fighting for their tournament survival in the Sunday night [Monday morning AEST] match, which also sees Andrew Kellaway make his World Cup debut and back-rower Rob Leota start ahead of Fraser McReight, with Tom Hooper shifting from the No. 6 to No. 7 jerseys to accommodate Leota’s inclusion.
While McDermott was named vice-captain ahead of the World Cup, Jones has decided to stick with Dave Porecki as skipper after he led the side in the seven-point loss to Fiji in Will Skelton’s absence.
“Every team has matches like this during a Rugby World Cup and for this young team it is this week,” Jones said via media release.
“We’ve prepared well, are focused on what we need to do, and we’ll be ready to fight on Sunday night.”
Needing a win to keep alive their hopes of progressing to the quarterfinals of the tournament, something they have never failed to do at the game’s showpiece, Jones has switched Donaldson into the frontline after Carter Gordon’s inglorious effort against the Fijians. Gordon has dropped back to the bench where Pone Fa’amausili is a welcomed inclusion and Matt Faessler replaces Jordan Uelese [concussion] as the back-up hooker.
“Well, we’ve got two good 10s to start with, we’ve got two 10s that we’re confident in and they’re pushing each other really hard,” assistant coach Dan Palmer said Thursday. “I think Donno brings a level of composure to that position, but like I said we’ve got two 10s that are pushing each other hard and we’ll just pick the guy who’s right for this weekend.”
Veteran centre Samu Kerevi, who was not at all happy with his own game against Fiji, said both players were learning as they go and were bringing fresh ideas that Australia needed to embrace.
Kerevi also said he and other Wallabies had done their best to rally around the youngsters, whom Jones has entrusted the World Cup campaign to after overlooking Quade Cooper and Bernard Foley as back-up playmaking options.
“Yeah, we’ve had a couple of guys get around him, and it’s not just Carts, it’s a lot of the guys that need guidance in this tournament setup; how are they feeling in the games? Kerevi said. “Slippy’s [James Slipper] had a yarn [to him], I don’t know if he’s given him too much advice on how to play 10.
“But it’s not his [Gordon] actual game, it is parts of the game, but it’s also the mental aspect of when the pressure’s on; how does that look and how we can alleviate pressure in certain parts of his game, especially at 10.
“But he has good connections, he still has good connections with Quadey – I don’t know if they’ve spoken – but we’ve sat down this week and talked about how he felt about the game and how to process certain things on the field, and where I can help, especially with the comms aspect of footy. Because at the end of the day, if I’m not helping him with the connection as well, we’re just leaving him on an island.
“And we didn’t do that too well on the weekend, we need to support him more on the field. Because not everything has to come off 10, not everything has to come off 9, we can shift the ball around to alleviate that pressure, so that we all see different pictures and that’s what we spoke about this week to help each other.”
The Wallabies have meanwhile delayed a decision on who will replace 19-year-old flyer Max Jorgensen, after he became the third Australian player in eight days to go down injured while training in France.
Waratahs winger and former sevens star Dylan Pietsch was mentioned overnight, but Jones and his fellow Wallabies staff have put that decision on hold, potentially until after Sunday’s game against Wales when they will have a clearer idea of their World Cup destiny and what position might best be served by a fresh pair of legs.
“They [the replacement] weren’t playing against Wales but we’ve had conversations about possible replacements, and Eddie will make a decision on that,” Palmer said.
“It doesn’t have to be like for like, obviously someone who can cover multiple positions offers more, to state the obvious. But we’ve considered different options there, but like I said it’s going to be up to Eddie ultimately there.”
Palmer said the entire group was gutted for Jorgensen, who had been tracking towards a Test debut next weekend against Portugal.
“Yeah it’s tough, it’s really tough for him, and like I said before he’s been doing really well here, he probably wasn’t too far away from getting his opportunity,” he said. “But he had his scan and everything yesterday, he’s left camp and I think he’s on a plane now.
“But he’s got a pretty clear picture on where he needs to go and I think you’ll see him back early next year.”
AUSTRALIA:
Andrew Kellaway, Mark Nawaqanitawase, Jordan Petaia, Samu Kerevi, Marika Koroibete, Ben Donaldson, Tate McDermott; Rob Valetini, Tom Hooper, Rob Leota, Richie Arnold, Nick Frost, James Slipper, Dave Porecki [captain], Angus Bell.
Replacements: Matt Faessler, Blake Schoupp, Pone Fa’amausili, Matt Philip, Fraser McReight, Nic White, Carter Gordon, Suliasi Vunivalu.