The Wallabies will be sweating on injured five-eighth Ben Donaldson being fit to play in a must-win clash against Italy this week after coach Joe Schmidt opted against an SOS to a seasoned playmaker and called up another uncapped five-eighth instead.
The Wallabies flew to Perth on Sunday after crashing to a 42-26 loss to France at Suncorp Stadium. The hosts lead 21-12 at half-time but got blown away in the second half.
Schmidt identified inexperience in the Wallabies’ halves as a factor in Australia’s capitulation, saying they had been unable to wrestle back control of the game after the French seized momentum in the third quarter.
After Donaldson and Carter Gordon were ruled out with calf injuries last week, Declan Meredith made his Test debut at No.10 and Schmidt gambled by picking fullback Jock Campbell as the back-up five-eighth, despite having never started a professional game in the position.
It backfired. Campbell came on in the 57th minute with the Wallabies trailing by 13 and with enough time to rally. But the Wallabies became disjointed and lacked the direction offered by an experienced playmaker, and the French cruised home.
“I see them working hard, and I know their intent is really positive,” Schmidt said. “But when things don’t go our way, we’ve got to be able to get some traction in the game and part of that is around experience.
“We had pretty inexperienced halves and we just can’t seem to get any luck at all around a 10 jersey and any continuity there. As a game driver, it just makes it hard to keep the continuity the way we’d like it to be.
“I thought Declan acquitted himself really well for a guy who’s never played a Test match, and he’s up against not just [Romain] Ntamack but [Matthieu] Jalibert in the backfield. They’re two world-class 10s and here’s a kid coming out of club rugby for his first Test trying to be able to plot us around the field, when they’ve got two guys like that plotting them around the field.”
Schmidt said they would know on Tuesday if Donaldson would be fit to return from a calf knock.
“If he can train fully then he’s obviously available,” he said.
If Donaldson is ruled out again, however, there will be no other experienced five-eighth options to turn to in the Wallabies squad after Schmidt on Sunday called up uncapped Queenslander Harry McLaughlin-Phillips to replace Gordon. Schmidt decided against bringing in Noah Lolesio (33 Tests), Tane Edmed (11) or even James O’Connor (70), who is back in Australia after finishing up with Leicester. All three played under Schmidt with the Wallabies last season.
McLaughlin-Phillips, 22, has started in just 12 of his 30 Super Rugby games and came off the bench for Australia A and the AUNZ Invitational side. He trained with the Wallabies last week and was officially added to the squad on Sunday.
If Donaldson is ruled out, Meredith will be the only five-eighth option in camp who has started a Test match at No.10.
Schmidt said last week he had contemplated calling up Lolesio, but given Donaldson only withdrew on Tuesday, they had opted to use a player who had been training with the side.
That has been a rigid selection criteria for Schmidt throughout his tenure with Australia, even at the risk of fielding a less-experienced player over a seasoned option.
Schmidt has also referred to long-term planning for the Rugby World Cup next year, but the Wallabies are clearly in desperate need of a victory this week to stay psychologically afloat, in what is a crucial year to build momentum and belief.
The team is on a six-game losing streak, and another defeat to Italy – who have beaten Australia in their past two meetings – would equal the most consecutive losses since 2005.
In a major blow for the Wallabies, in-form flanker Tom Hooper was also ruled out of contention to return for the Italy Test after missing the French clash with a shoulder injury. Joe Brial was added to the squad, replacing Hooper, while Hunter Paisami (knee) has been replaced by Isaac Henry.
Meredith said post-game he was keen to get another shot.
“If I get another opportunity, I’d want to deliver more,” Meredit said. “They put you to the wire when they have momentum. You learn that in Tests, momentum is everything in a game, and it’s hard to win back. Definitely a few lessons learnt, but keen to get back on the horse.”
Wallabies hooker Brandon Paenga-Amosa believes a victory will break the losing habit, and open the floodgates.
“One win would definitely help us,” he said. “And we’re desperate, we are desperate as a team. Good desperate, though. We’re working hard for each other, we’re grinding, we want that win. And once we get it, it’ll just be a snowball effect.”
Iain Payten is a senior sports reporter for The Sydney Morning Herald.Connect via X or email.From our partners
About the Author
