JOE SCHMIDT SELECTS SEVEN DEBUTANTS INCLUDING SON OF AUSTRALIA LEGEND AS WALLABIES SEEK TO MOVE ON FROM DISASTROUS EDDIE JONES ERA

Joe Schmidt has named a very inexperienced Australia squad to take on Wales, which includes seven potential debutants.

With the Wallabies head coach deciding not to pick anyone from abroad or those deciding to head to pastures new at the end of the season, there were several new names in the initial wider squad.

Seven of those have been selected for the first Test of the 2024 campaign, with two of those starting as Jeremy Williams is at lock and Josh Flook comes in at centre.

Remarkably inexperienced bench

Meanwhile, Isaac Kailea, Angus Blyth, Charlie Cale, Tom Lynagh – son of the great Michael Lynagh – and Dylan Pietsch are the uncapped quintet among the Wallabies replacements.

If you include hooker Billy Pollard, six of the players on the bench for the Wales clash have just one cap between them.

In contrast, Allan Alaalatoa and Tate McDermott, the two other individuals among the eight, are set to earn their 68th and 29th caps, respectively.

Schmidt has also made up his mind on the captaincy with Reds star Liam Wright the person entrusted with the responsibility.

Wright has only made five appearances for the Wallabies himself, but he impressed the head coach enough to take on the leadership role.

The flanker is joined in the back-row by club team-mate Fraser McReight and number eight Rob Valetini, while in the front five, Lukhan Salakaia-Loto returns at lock.

Salakaia-Loto will feature in his first Test since 2021 and he is partnered by debutant Williams in the second-row. The pack is completed by James Slipper, Matt Faessler and Taniela Tupou.

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Backline

Behind the scrum, Jake Gordon and Noah Lolesio are at half-back, while Hunter Paisami and newbie Flook will take their Reds combination into the Test arena.

Finally, Tom Wright, Andrew Kellaway and Filipo Daugunu are the back three in what is a very experimental Wallabies outfit.

“At the moment, everything’s pretty short-term, including our preparation. We’ve had four trainings really,” Schmidt said.

“I’ve really enjoyed working with Liam, but the same with all the others in the leadership group and the players in general. They’ve been a super group to work with.

“It’s a really interdependent game, rugby. It’s one of the things I love about it but it does mean that your preparation has to be nailed on pretty well if you’re going to get the cohesion on a Saturday.

“While I can’t guarantee the cohesion, I think guys like Josh and the rest of the squad, I can pretty much guarantee the effort that will be there.”

Wallabies team to face Wales

Australia: 15 Tom Wright, 14 Andrew Kellaway, 13 Josh Flook, 12 Hunter Paisami, 11 Filipo Daugunu, 10 Noah Lolesio, 9 Jake Gordon, 8 Rob Valetini, 7 Fraser McReight, 6 Liam Wright (c), 5 Lukhan Salakaia-Loto, 4 Jeremy Williams, 3 Taniela Tupou, 2 Matt Faessler, 1 James Slipper

Replacements: 16 Billy Pollard, 17 Isaac Kailea, 18 Allan Alaalatoa, 19 Angus Blyth, 20 Charlie Cale, 21 Tate McDermott, 22 Tom Lynagh, 23 Dylan Pietsch

Date: Saturday, July 6

Venue: Allianz Stadium, Sydney

Kick-off: 19:45 local (10:45 BST, 09:45 GMT)

Referee: Pierre Brousset (France)

Assistant Referees: Ben O’Keeffe (New Zealand), James Doleman (New Zealand)

TMO: Marius Jonker (South Africa)

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2024-07-04T08:18:10Z dg43tfdfdgfd