Dave Rennie’s 35-man squad for the showdown against England in July is short on surprises, long on experience and big on second chances – both given and dangled. Boasting size, speed and versatility, it’s a squad with a triple purpose: beat Eddie Jones’s men in the three-Test series starting on 2 July, hone the starting XV while winning the 11 Tests to follow against tier-one nations, and send a warning shot to the world saying the Wallabies are settled, poised and potent enough to win the Webb Ellis trophy a third time.
With a 40% win record from his 20 Tests, Rennie knows the time to deliver has come. He now has three weeks to pick a side capable of snapping Jones’s run of eight consecutive victories for England over Australia and restoring much-needed pride in the old gold jersey. Those who don’t make the starting side for England will press their claims in Australia A’s team for the Pacific Nations Cup against Fiji, Samoa and Tonga running parallel 2-16 July.
Three senior Wallabies are missing, with Kurtley Beale out injured and Reece Hodge and Matt To’omua dropped altogether. Hodge, 27, has been punished for some poor form early in the Super Rugby Pacific season, and is perhaps a victim of his versatility. Having played five-eighth, winger, full-back and centre for the Wallabies, the 51-Test super boot is now on the outer. To’omua, at 32, is unlikely to add to his 59 Tests as fly-half or inside-centre.
Beale, a proud Darug man and three-time World Cup playmaker, has tweaked a hamstring and will come home not to play, but rehab, in July. It is disappointing given Beale is chasing a fourth World Cup berth by taking a half-million-dollar pay cut to leave Racing 92 in the French Top 14 and sign with the Waratahs in 2023. It leaves the 33-year-old livewire stranded five caps short of becoming the 14th player – and first indigenous man – to play 100 Tests for Australia.
The absence of Beale and Hodge and Jock Campbell’s omission from the squad leaves Brumbies speedster Tom Banks and Red Jordan Petaia to duel for the vital full-back position. Petaia, 22, is a prodigy unfulfilled at the top level but his form at 15 for Queensland shifted the dynamic Campbell, 27, to the wing and it looks likely Rennie will blood him at the back.
Banks is 27 and his decision to head to Japan next year may keep him in the second XV.
On the wings there is only one spot up for grabs. Tom Wright’s side-step, kicking game and unpredictability will vie with Andrew Kellaway’s record of nine tries for the Wallabies in 2021. The outside chance is Suliasi Vunivalu, the NRL star and Queensland Reds flyer, who is back in the reckoning after some scintillating form in the back half of the Super season.
The lock at No 11 is Marika Koroibete, one of Rennie’s three Japan-based player selections. A proven match-winner and blockbusting runner, he will terrorise an England side missing centres Manu Tuilagi and Henry Slade to injury. At inside-centre Samu Kerevi, also back from Japan, is another lock. Recalled by Rennie last year for his first Tests since 2019, the 28-year-old Kerevi’s explosive running game caused havoc for rival backlines and sparked a five-game winning streak, including back-to-back wins over world champions South Africa.
The other catalyst for that streak was Quade Cooper, the mad maestro five-eighth whose sleight of hand and unpredictability Rennie must harness to conduct the Wallabies orchestra. Now 34, Cooper is mature enough to call the play and execute under fire but selecting another playmaker such as James O’Connor, 32 next month, will free his genius further. The ‘Amigos’ have chemistry that offsets a lack of game-time with the half, a tough call between tough-nut incumbent Nic White, 31, and Tate McDermott, 23, his younger, feistier rival.
Three veterans have been elevated by Rennie to their first national squad in the forwards, with Waratahs 6/8 Jed Holloway, 29, and hooker Dave Porecki, 29, included and Brumbies lock Cadeyrn Neville, who stands 202cm, also cracking the squad at the ripe old age of 33.
All three have strong chances of being picked in Rennie’s side to face England in Perth.
Australia’s erratic lineout and maul play will be targeted by Jones’ England side who will kick for distance then go to the air. Losing Izack Rodda to a foot injury hurts but Rob Valentini (23, 193cm) and Harry Wilson (22, 195cm) are the mongrel heirs to the No 8 jersey, which would push Holloway to flanker as partner to 114-Test tyro and captain Michael Hooper. Darcy Swain, 24, and Matt Phillip, 28, are both two-metres tall second-rowers ready to rip in.
Rennie is confident Taniela Tupou AKA ‘The Tongan Thor’ will recover from a calf injury to play at tight-head. But Allan Alaalatoa stands ready to partner Angus Bell, 21, either side of Porecki at hooker. Uncapped Rebel Pone Fa’amausili, 25, is primed to bring thunder from the bench while 110-Test legend James Slipper is 33-years young and another prop option.
Off the back of an improved Super Rugby season for Australian sides, Rennie’s squad convenes fitter, faster and more experienced than last year. “I think we’ve added a little bit of steel to the group as well,” he reckons. Will it be enough to put England to the sword?
