Ruthless and risky, maybe even slightly deranged. The Wallabies 2023 World Cup squad, announced on Thursday night for the “smash and grab” mission on rugby’s greatest prize starting next month in France, shows all the diverse moods of its maverick head coach Eddie Jones.
Foremost is the ruthlessness. Six weeks after being named co-captain of Jones’s team, 125-Test talisman and spiritual leader Michael Hooper, 31, has been denied a farewell tour in France after failing to recover from a calf niggle. Similarly, flawed genius fly-half Quade Cooper, 35, has been cast back into the wilderness after two dud starts and a fumble from the bench that let the All Blacks kick to victory in last week’s Bledisloe Cup match. And after poor Tests in July, fullback Tom Wright and flanker Jed Holloway have been dumped.
Instead, Jones has rolled the dice on youth – 25 of the 33 players named will be at their first World Cup and the average age is 26, the youngest World Cup squad in 32 years. He has also backed the raw power and heathen chemistries that impressed him in the rollercoaster Tests against New Zealand. By trusting fresh combinations in the halves, centres and backrow, Jones’s squad seems designed to throw caution to the wind in France before his five-year masterplan has them peaking for the 2027 World Cup on home soil in Australia.
The leader of the 2023 campaign is the biggest shock of all. Will Skelton, 31, for so long a sleeping giant of Australian rugby, is the new Wallabies captain – the 87th in the team’s history and Jones’s fifth skipper in seven weeks – after Tate McDermott led last weekend and James Slipper and Allan Alaalatoa in the Tests prior. Skelton has only captained once – a Wallabies XV who lost to the French Barbarians in 2016 – but the big man now has the big job. His predecessor in the role, Reds halfback McDermott, 24, will be Skelton’s vice-captain.
It completes a remarkable rise for the formerly underachieving 203cm, 140kg forward, who didn’t play for Australia between 2016 and 2021, but whose hot form in French rugby for La Rochelle has finally transferred to the Test arena with rampaging performances in this home season. “I was very reluctant at first but when the big man [Jones] calls, you follow his lead,” Skelton said at his unveiling. “I trust his guidance. I am excited for what we have in store.”
When he took back the job as Wallabies head coach in January, Jones vowed to reward form regardless of age or status. He has done it here. Brumbies flanker Tom Hooper, 22, will add to his three Tests, bolting into the 33-man squad to replace his namesake at No 6. His partner is in-form firebrand Fraser McReight, whose busy Bledisloe has him firming for many as a future captain for the 2027 tournament, having led Australia’s Under-20s to a world championship final in 2019. Rob Leota, 26, and combative rookies Langi Gleeson, 22, and Josh Kemeny, 24, are the backrow backups, with Pete Samu surprisingly missing out.
Form has led Jones in most selections but so has blind faith. With Marika Koroibete and Mark Nawaqanitawase his first-pick wingers, the rugby league-loving coach has controversially persisted with ex-Melbourne Storm player Suliasi Vunivalu as the reserve, despite the big flyer blowing his audition in July’s Springboks Test. Jones has also picked another wing wildcard in Waratahs try sensation Max Jorgensen – son of two-Test Wallaby Peter – despite the 18-year-old not playing a minute since a knee injury in May. If he plays a game in France, Jorgensen would become the youngest Australian to ever debut at a World Cup.
A World Cup is a high stakes affair and Jones has taken a high risk-high return approach. Melbourne Rebels pivot Carter Gordon, 22, was expected to win No 10 starting duties after dynamic digs in the Tests against New Zealand, but with Cooper axed and promising pivot Noah Lolesio on the nose with Jones, Ben Donaldson is a surprise Plan B. The new Western Force signing missed a siren kick on debut in Australia’s first Test loss to Italy and scored 10 points the week after to defeat Wales but hasn’t been in the Wallabies frame until now. Another shock is uncapped halfback Issak Fines-Leleiwasa, selected in place of Ryan Lonergan, to deputise for first-choice halfbacks McDermott and Nic White.
Although Hooper was shown no latitude, Jones has taken more risks in naming other injured players. Samu Kerevi (hand) and Taniela Tupou (rib) have been selected despite still being in recovery, meaning Lalakai Foketi and Izaia Perese may be needed to partner form No 13 Jordan Petaia, who plays his second World Cup after debuting in 2019 as a 19-year-old. Young prop Blake Schoupp, 23, and hooker Matt Faessler, who excelled on debut last week against the All Blacks, will cover if Tupou doesn’t come good.
It’s a squad of roughnecks and rookies unscarred by major battles and raring to go. Jones has jettisoned some old generals to blood stars of the future and build a dynasty for 2027. The 33 chosen now have a four-day camp in Darwin and Arnhem Land before a tune-up in a fortnight against France. Then, on 9 September when the World Cup kicks off, we’ll see if Jones’s iron fist and card-shark smarts have come up trumps. “The experts have written us off,” he grinned on Thursday, eyes glinting at the challenge ahead. “No one believes we can do it, but we believe. The coaches believe, the players believe and that’s all that matters.”
