Retour
Teddy Wilson and Tom Lambert part of 33-man group to tour Europe
Australia to face England, Scotland and Wales in Nations Championship
Son of a gun Teddy Wilson and prop Tom Lambert are the new faces in the Wallabies’ spring tour squad, which welcomes back some international reinforcements.
Coach Les Kiss on Friday unveiled his 33-man group to tour Europe for Tests next month against England, Scotland, Wales and another yet-to-be-determined side in the maiden Nations Championship finals weekend.
NSW scrumhalf and former Australian under-20s captain Wilson is the son of Wallabies great David Wilson, with the flanker part of the 1999 World Cup-winning side among his 79 caps.
“There’s a few [Wallabies] jerseys up at home, the 1999 World Cup winning jersey’s there as well,” Wilson said. “Dad, he’s been there and done that so he tells me a few things but lets me play my game.”
“[The main advice was to] just work hard. He was always that type of player and … if we were slacking off when I was younger he’d get us down to the oval, doing extras.”
Wilson was in superb form as Easts won Sydney’s Shute Shield competition and has vowed to back his running game if given a shot at Test level.
He has replaced Kalani Thomas as the third No 9 with the latter playing Australia A this weekend against the United States.
Ryan Lonergan has established himself as the standout No 9, with Wilson to push fellow tourist Tate McDermott in the battle to support him.
The Wallabies had gone six Tests undefeated, including Kiss’s first five in charge, before back-to-back Bledisloe Cup hidings opened old wounds.
Taniela Tupou and Tom Hooper, who play club rugby in France and England respectively, performed crucial bench roles in the Wallabies’ defeat of back-to-back World Cup champions South Africa.
But Australia were without the pair’s services against New Zealand, given the All Blacks Tests fell outside of World Rugby’s global player release period.
It exposed the Wallabies’ bench depth and, after a one-sided second half in Auckland, forced Kiss to shift prop Angus Bell to the reserves for the Sydney rematch.
That contest was over inside 30 minutes, before Bell got on the field.
Kiss will have access to his international arsenal though for the four-Test tour that begins in London on 9 November.
Flyhalf Carter Gordon is recovering from a fractured leg and has been included alongside Ben Donaldson and Declan Meredith, with Harry McLaughlin-Phillips squeezed out following his debut off the bench in Sydney.
Kiss has also included Japan-based Hunter Paisami, who was suspended for the Bledisloe Cup for a high tackle and lock Miles Amatosero, who will also play for Australia A in the US.
NSW junior, loosehead Lambert – who will join the Queensland Reds this season – has replaced Aidan Ross, who started against New Zealand in Sydney, in the squad.
Unused fullback Jock Campbell has also missed a spot on the plane.
Kiss said ahead of the Sydney Test that he had been in conversation with veteran playmaker Kurtley Beale who, like fellow experienced halves James O’Connor and Bernard Foley, was a known quantity who remained in the frame ahead of the World Cup.
“There’s a real buzz among the squad as we prepare for what will be four incredibly demanding matches against high-quality opposition,” Kiss said.
“We’ve made some tough selection calls to keep building depth across the board and we know a tour like this will challenge the whole squad on many levels.”
Wallabies: Allan Alaalatoa, Miles Amatosero, Angus Bell, Josh Canham, Massimo De Lutiis, Tom Hooper, Isaac Kailea, Tom Lambert, Fraser McReight, Josh Nasser, Brandon Paenga-Amosa, Billy Pollard, Lukhan Salakaia-Loto, Lachlan Shaw, Carlo Tizzano, Taniela Tupou, Rob Valetini, Jeremy Williams, Harry Wilson. Filipo Daugunu, Ben Donaldson, Carter Gordon, Isaac Henry, Len Ikitau, Max Jorgensen, Ryan Lonergan, Tate McDermott, Declan Meredith, Hunter Paisami, Harry Potter, Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii, Teddy Wilson, Tom Wright.