Injury, retirement and a contract release kick off new Wallabies coach’s first Test week
New Wallabies coach Joe Schmidt has been thrown curveball after curveball in the opening days of his tenure at the top, with finding a new captain his first priority.
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Day one of Joe Schmidt’s first Test week began with news Kurtley Beale ruptured his Achilles, Michael Hooper retired from rugby and Mark Nawaqanitawase is set to get an early release to join the Roosters after his Olympics campaign.
There is a definitive changing of the guard, and expected turmoil of injuries in camp, all the while the players preparing to take on Wales on Saturday at Allianz Stadium are desperately trying to learn all that Schmidt expects from them in his first match in charge of the Wallabies.
Schmidt is still trying to work out who will be in his starting XV and who will be his captain.
Fraser McReight is a candidate for both and a long-time understudy of Hooper. At 32, Australia’s most capped flanker called time on his career after missing out on the Paris Games sevens squad.
Can McReight fill his boots as Australia’s next great No.7 and inspirational leader?
With World Cup skipper Will Skelton not considered for this series and his replacement Dave Porecki injured, the team’s captaincy conundrum has put 25-year-old McReight in contention.
“I don’t think it’s something you want to dream about, I think it’s something that happens and is a progression,” McReight said.
“It would be an honour to do that sort of stuff but I’ve got a long way until that happens.”
Nawaqanitawase has made the squad – to be announced on Wednesday – but is agreeing to terms to join the NRL’s Roosters squad immediately after his return from France on August 3. It’s unlikely he will play first grade this season but because of the immense injury toll in league this year, you wouldn’t rule it out completely.
More likely, he will be playing in the NSW Cup while his former Wallabies teammates will be taking on the All Blacks.
Amid all the movement and chaos is a Test to be played between a largely unknown Wallabies team against an equally anonymous Wales side.
Since the 2019 World Cup, the Wallabies have won just 15 of 43 Tests and fallen to an all-time low ranking of ninth.
But 10th-ranked Wales is coming off seven successive losses and is an ideally wounded opponent for an Australian team desperately needing a positive start for a new regime.
The last time Wales defeated the Wallabies in Australia was in 1969 at the SCG, a streak the hosts must cling to with several other winning records evaporating over the years.
However, these sides last met at the World Cup last September, when Wales won 40-6.
There is a score to settle but also a chance to draw the line and well and truly move on from the Eddie Jones circus into the Schmidt era.
“Last year was a different time, it was a strange time as we know,” McReight said.
“Once I was back playing for the Reds I forgot about that. Everyone who was there knows it was difficult and a tough pill to swallow but everyone took lessons.
“Now here, we don’t really have time to reflect. We’ve got to learn under Joe and learn what he’s trying to bring in because we don’t have much time.”
The Kiwi and former Ireland mentor is renowned for his breadth of intricate technical nous across all his players.
“Learning under Joe this past week, realising where he sees our big growth areas, fundamentals in Test footy can make or break you, so really nailing down those nitty gritty areas, it’s refreshing for us as players,” McReight said.
“He’s a decorated coach, he’s done very well with Ireland. How they operate is a platform for us, it’s a change for us and it will be a slow process to get to where he sees we can get to.”
In a blow to the inexperienced squad, 35-year-old Beale ruptured his Achilles last Saturday playing for Randwick in the Shute Shield. It is generally a season-ending injury.
Meanwhile, Melbourne Rebels back David Feliuai has left the squad due to personal reasons and NSW Waratahs centre Joey Walton has been drafted in as a replacement in camp.
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Originally published as Injury, retirement and a contract release kick off new Wallabies coach’s first Test week