Lukhan Salakaia-Loto and Brandon Paenga-Amosa are amongst a couple of the big names to have missed Wallabies selection, while Taniela Tupou has earned a reprieve for next month’s Test against the Flying Fijians.
Wallabies coach Joe Schmidt will announce his Test squad for the Test against Fiji in Newcastle on July 6 at 1pm.
The clash against their World Cup slayers is the one Test ahead of the three-match Test series against the British and Irish Lions. A new squad will be named on July 11 – eight days out from the first Test against the Lions.
A few new faces are expected to be named, including Nick Champion de Crespigny.
While most aspiring Wallabies enjoyed watching State of Origin on Wednesday evening, Schmidt took it upon himself to deliver the bad news to players who missed selection.
Sources have told The Roar that a couple of those calls were to Salakaia-Loto and Paenga-Amosa, who missed much of the second half of the Super Rugby season due to injury.
Lukhan Salakaia-Loto has missed selection for the Test against Fiji. Photo: Getty Images
Both men could still take on the Lions, but will want to make a statement when their respective Super Rugby sides, the Reds and Western Force, host the famed touring party in the first week of their campaign.
The decision to leave out Salakaia-Loto likely means good news for Exeter-bound Brumbies forward Tom Hooper. La-Rochelle-based lock Will Skelton is back in NSW and expected to be immediately called into the squad.
Another phone call was to veteran Wallaby Kurtley Beale, who remains hopeful of playing some part in the iconic series 12 years after playing a key role in the series.
Schmidt is also expected to include Noah Lolesio, Ben Donaldson and Tom Lynagh in his squad despite the latter carrying a finger injury into the biggest month of rugby on Australian shores in more than a decade. It’s not clear if veteran playmakers Bernard Foley and James O’Connor, who both have been in contact with Schmidt in recent weeks, have been called up.
But Tupou was spared the axe despite the 29-year-old’s tough year with the Waratahs.
The giant prop candidly revealed he feared missing out on the series after a poor season with the Waratahs, where he failed to show any of the destructive ball-carrying form that has made him a household name in world rugby and was reduced to hitting rucks.
Even Tupou’s scrummaging struggled, with Tupou pinged for angling in at tight-head prop against the Western Force in the penultimate match of the regular season.
But without any proven alternatives other than leader Allan Alaalatoa, Schmidt’s hand has been forced and the New Zealander, together with his compatriot and scrum guru Mike Cron, will try and work their magic and help Tupou rediscover some confidence ahead of the Lions series.
Taniela Tupou has been retained in the Wallabies despite fearing that he’d been dropped. (Photo by Cameron Spencer/Getty Images)
It’s vital that they do because the series could come down to the Wallabies being able to gain parity at the set-piece.
Meanwhile, Lions coach Andy Farrell named his first team for this weekend’s campaign opener as they take on Argentina in Dublin, before flying out to Perth.
With the majority of the championship-winning Leinster side only finishing up their campaign last weekend, Farrell has been forced to test his wider squad and named Fin Smith to partner his Northampton teammate Alex Mitchell in the halves. Fellow England playmaker Marcus Smith will play at fullback.
Interestingly, Farrell has chosen Australian-born centre Sione Tuipulotu to partner Bundee Aki in the midfield.
Fellow Australian-born prop Finlay Bealham starts at tight-head prop alongside England’s Ellis Genge and Luke Cowan-Dickie. Maro Itoje captains the side.
Christy Doranhttps://https://ift.tt/IVsdQFo: Wallabies big-name forwards set to miss Test selection, Tupou spared the axe as young playmakers backed
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