Rugby World Cup 2023: Wallabies squad confirmed, Will Skelton captain, Michael Hooper, Quade Cooper axed

Wallabies coach Eddie Jones has wielded the axe and ushered in a new era for Australia - naming a new captain and a youthful influx in a scarcely recognisable World Cup squad.

Wallabies online art for World Cup squad announcement.

Never one to doubt himself, Wallabies coach Eddie Jones has boldly predicted his new look Australian team can shock everyone and win the World Cup - despite being completely rebuilt just weeks before the tournament.

With no more time left to waste, Jones faces a massive task getting the Wallabies up to speed to take on the world’s best after overhauling his squad - picking a new captain and a team full of youngsters.

His 33-man roster includes 25 World Cup rookies but Jones said it was the right call because the Wallabies desperately needed some fresh blood to have any chance of years of embarrassing losses.

“We think the young players are the players that are going to take Australian rugby forward,” he said.

“This squad’s good enough to win this World Cup and possibly go on and win the next World Cup.

“That’s the advantage of picking young guys. They all deserve their opportunities. It’s not as if we’re handing them the jersey on a platter, but they’ll bring energy and a lot of ambition and enthusiasm into the team.”

Jones said his side was desperate for some youth. (Photo by Peter Meecham/Getty Images)

Unapologetic after leaving out some of the biggest names in Australian rugby, including Michael Hooper and Quade Cooper, Jones said he had no regrets whatsoever at putting all his chips on a new generation of players.

“I always think the biggest risk is not to take the risk,” he said.

“These guys are a very good squad of players with plenty of talent but what we don’t have is a team who can fight for 80 minutes.

“We showed against New Zealand last week that we can dominate a very good New Zealand team for 40 minutes but then we lacked that little bit of teamness and a little bit of toughness under pressure and that’s what we’re going to find over the next three or four weeks.”

Of all the surprises in his squad selection, none was as wild as his new choice of captain - Will Skelton.

A giant of a player, Skelton was a left-field choice that Jones said was in line with the team’s need for a fresh start.

“We just went for the biggest bloke in the team so it was quite an easy selection,” Jones joked.

“We want to change the team. My job was to come here and change the team and part of that is changing the leadership and the way the team’s led.

“Will’s a good man, a good team man, guys, he’s played in a lot of winning teams in Europe and he brings that almost common touch to the team to bring them together.”

Hooper’s international career appears over. (Photo by Mark Kolbe/Getty Images)

Skelton, who plays his club rugby in France, said he was blown away when Jones asked him to lead the side.

“I’m very shocked, nervous. They were just a ew emotions I had when Eddie gave me the call,” Skelton said.

“I was very reluctant at first but when the big man calls you, you seem to follow his lead and I trust his guidance.

“So I’m excited for what we have in store. We’ve got a young group who are itching to play and get better.”

WALLABIES SQUAD: JONES WIELDS THE AXE

Will Skelton is the shock choice to lead the Wallabies at the 10th Rugby World Cup after long-time skipper Michael Hooper was sensationally left out of the 33-man Australian squad for France.

True to his word, coach Eddie Jones has wielded the axe and ushered in a new era for the code in Australia, ditching a lot of the older brigade and replacing them with younger bodies.

“I’ve backed the young blokes because they earned it. Simple as that,” Jones said.

“I haven’t handed it to them. They grabbed it. It’s exciting for me to go to work each day with these guys who are just busting to improve, to learn and to get better.

“They want to succeed, and they will succeed and that excitement is rubbing off on everyone. We’re in a good place.”

The Wallabies longest-serving captain, Hooper is the most glaring omission but the 31-year-old flanker was not alone in getting the guillotine.

Veteran five-eighth Quade Cooper was also left out, along with utility back Reece Hodge, outside back Tom Wright and rugged loose forward Jed Holloway.

Wallabies head coach Eddie Jones has wielded the axe, picking an extraordinary World Cup squad. Picture: Getty

In drawing a line through some of the players who have had their chances before and not taken it, Jones has gambled on youth over experience, clearly with an eye on the 2027 World Cup, being hosted in Australia.

Sixteen of the 33 players he chose are aged 25 years or under. Twenty-five players will be appearing at the World Cup for the first time. And three have yet to wear the famed gold jersey in a Test.

It’s a risky strategy but the only sensible option Jones could have taken if the Wallabies are ever to return to their former greatness.

Australian rugby has been a shambles for years and needs a fresh start, which is why Jones was brought in to replace the bumbling Dave Rennie, who failed to make any progress after three years in the job.

“The experts have written us off. No one believes we can do it, but we believe. The coaches believe, the players believe and that’s all that matters,” Jones said.

“Being part of a team that gets the opportunity to compete at a World Cup is a rare privilege. Look at the fun the Matildas are having and the joy they are creating. Look at the way the country is rallying around them.

“This is what we want to do. We want to build that same type of excitement. That same kind of expectation and the way we will do it is by everyone in the squad giving their best effort every day. We can’t wait.”

In and out of the team for the past decade, Skelton was a surprise left-field pick as the new captain, but also an inspired choice that reflects the radical change in direction Jones is taking the team on.”

Standing over two metres tall and tipping the scales at over 140kg, Skelton is a physical giant who has long been considered a future leader after making his Test debut in 2014.

He did lead the Wallabies in a 2016 tour match against the French Barbarians but has been largely unwanted by the national selectors, so has spent most of his career playing club rugby in Europe, where he is highly regarded.

Will Skelton has been given the shock honour of leading the Wallabies at the 2023 World Cup. Picture: Getty

He was only recalled to the Wallabies in 2021, and because he still plays for French champions La Rochelle, he was one of Jones’ ‘Giteau’s Law’ picks.

Unlikely to play a full 80 minutes, the towering lock will share the leadership duties with livewire Queensland halfback Tate McDermott, who was named vice captain in another pointer to Jones’ long term plans building towards 2027.

Carter Gordon, 22, was named as the only specialist five-eighth, with Cooper missing out altogether and Waratahs’ playmaker Ben Donaldson surprisingly chosen as the utility back.

Jones picked three halfbacks, including the uncapped Issak Fines-Leleiwasa, who got the nod ahead of Ryan Lonergam.

“It’s a young squad, it’s an exciting squad and it will be a successful squad,” Jones said.

“We are making good progress. Our challenge is to continue to improve. To get a little bit better every day in everything we do on and off the field.

“As I’ve said since I took over, in Australian rugby we have the talent, but we don’t yet have the team. That’s still the case. But we are getting there and I’m backing that we will surprise a few people.”

Veteran halfback Nic White, whose dreary obsession with box kicking led to calls for him to be dropped, can consider himself extremely lucky to be picked.

Quade Cooper’s Wallabies career appears over, after he was left out of the squad. Picture: Getty

The only player perhaps more fortunate to get a seat on the plane to France is former NRL winger Suli Vunivalu, whose selection will raise more questions than answers given Jones is investing in the future.

Teenager Max Jorgensen was the youngest player selected. Just 18, the uncapped Sydney University winger was picked despite injuring himself earlier in the season.

Blake Schoupp, a talented prop forward from the Woonona Shamrocks, a regional club in the Illawarra south of Sydney, was the bolter in the front row, after impressing Jones with his physique and aptitude for hard work.

The squad is currently in the Northern Territory for a four-day training camp.

Three extra players, Tom Lambert, James O’Connor and Folau Fainga’a, have joined them in training.

The squad will return to Sydney next week before flying out to Euripoe on Thursday, with a final practice match against France at the Stade de France on Saturday.

An Australia A side will also play a practice game against Portugal with any fringe players to remain in Europe on standby in case anyone goes down injured.

The Wallabies are drawn in Pool C, alongside Wales, Fiji, Georgia and Portugal. Their opening World Cup match is against Georgia in Paris on September 9.

“Rugby World Cup is a tournament, and tournament rugby is different to competition rugby. Look at the Women’s Football World Cup. Favourites get beaten. Upsets happen. It’s all part of the challenge,” Jones said.

“All the teams start from the same place. We all get the same opportunity. The team that improves the most is generally the team that will win it and that’s the task we have set ourselves. We have been improving and we will continue to improve.”

Originally published as Rugby World Cup 2023: Wallabies squad confirmed, Will Skelton captain, Michael Hooper, Quade Cooper axed