The Wallabies kick off their end of year tour with a first up match against England at the newly named Allianz Stadium where most the talk in the lead up has been whether Rugby League convert Joseph-Aukuso Sua’ali’i. Wallabies coach Joe Schmidt has made the bold selection call to give Sua’li’i the chance to show his wares in front of a hostile English crowd.
Sua’ali’i will partner Len Ikitau in the centres in his first match of Rugby Union in 2019 for the Australian Schoolboys. His naming means Ikitau switches from his preferred position of outside centre and will wear the 12 jersey- something he has not done before. This brings back the old saying of ‘don’t weaken a position to strengthen another’ as the pressure to perfrom in front of 80,000 plus in London will be weighing on Sua’li’i’s broad shoulders.
The media attention surrounding Sua’ali’i’s inclusion could help the other 22 players named as the hype and attention is focussed elsewhere in a team that is needing to get back into the winners circle.
The Wallabies under Schmidt are four wins from nine Tests played with those four wins against Wales (2), Georgia and Argentina. The losses have come against current World Champions South Africa (2), New Zealand (2) and a thumping loss to Argentina one week after a last minute win.
Among the other 22, it’s pretty much ‘business as usual’ as Schmidt has named a fairly settled matchday squad. The only major omission is Marika Koroibete who had an underwhelming Rugby Championship and it was revealed he played with a broken hanf in Bledisloe 1 in Sydney, which now answers many questions to those performances.
His place is taken by Dylan Piestch on the left wing and is part of the back three alongside Tom Wright at fullback and Andrew Kellaway, who also has been down on form in 2024 under the new game plan of Schmidt.
Harry Wilson is retained as Captain in the backrow with Fraser McReight and Rob Valetini, who is coming off another John Eales medal win.
The second row is one to keep an eye on with Nick Frost and Jeremy Williams named to start. Williams has been a surprise selection for me as his height doesn’t make him the likely frame of a lock. Will Skelton has been given the week off to get up to speed after only playing for his French club side last weekend.
Up front, Angus Bell starts alongside Matt Faessler and Taniela Tupou. Tupou has had his struggles in 2024 to see out a half of a game and the jury is out on the best way to utilise his big frame of whether empty the tank to start with and go for about about 30 minutes or come off the bench and make an impact.
Wallabies side to play England
2:10am (AEDT) Sunday 10 November
1. Angus Bell, 2. Matt Faessler, 3. Taniela Tupou, 4. Nick Frost, 5. Jeremy Williams, 6. Rob Valetini, 7. Fraser McReight, 8. Harry Wilson (c), 9. Jake Gordon, 10. Noah Lolesio, 11. Dylan Pietsch, 12. Len Ikitau, 13. Joseph-Aukuso Sua’ali’i, 14. Andrew Kellaway, 15. Tom Wright
Substitutes
16. Brandon Paenga-Amosa, 17. James Slipper, 18. Allan Alaalatoa, 19. Lukhan Salakaia-Loto, 20. Langi Gleeson, 21. Tate McDermott, 22. Ben Donaldson, 23. Max Jorgensen
