Quade Cooper and Michael Hooper miss Wallabies squad as Will Skelton named captain

Wallabies coach Eddie Jones has pulled a World Cup shock with a new captain named and two veterans axed.

Will Skelton is a surprise choice as Wallabies captain. Picture: Joe Allison/Getty Images

Former captain Michael Hooper wasn’t the only veteran to miss out on Wallabies coach Eddie Jones’s new-look World Cup squad he’s adamant can “surprise a few people”, with veteran playmaker Quade Cooper also cut from a group that will have Will Skelton as a new captain.

The official unveiling of the 33-player squad that will head to France next week in search of the ultimate glory revealed giant lock Skelton as the man picked to fill the captaincy void left by the omission of Hooper and Allan Alaalatoa, who suffered an achilles injury in the first Bledisloe Cup clash with the All Blacks.

Jones said he was backing the youth-filled squad, with 25 attending their first World Cup and 22-year-old flyhalf Carter Gordon, who has played just four Tests, the lone No.10 because they had “earned it” and was adamant the group could shock the world.

“I’ve backed the young blokes because they earned it. Simple as that. I haven’t handed it to them. They grabbed it,” Jones said.

“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 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.”

Hooper’s time in Wallabies gold, which extended to a mammoth 125 Tests, is done after a lingering calf injury forced Jones to overlook the nation’s longest-serving captain for a World Cup swansong, with James Slipper, who was named his co-captain as recently as June, in the squad but removed as a leader.

Instead, halfback Tate McDermott, who captained the Wallabies against the Kiwis in Dunedin last week, will be vice-captain to Skelton.

Michael Hooper has played his last Test for the Wallabies after missing World Cup selection. Picture: Albert Perez/Getty Images

The axing of Hooper and Cooper was part of a veteran clean-out by Jones, who lost all four Tests to begin his second stint in charge of the national team but remained adamant the Wallabies could shock the world and win the World Cup.

“It’s a young squad, it’s an exciting squad and it will be a successful squad. We are making good progress,” Jones said.

“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.

“Rugby World Cup is a tournament, and tournament rugby is different to competition rugby. Favourites get beaten. Upsets happen. It’s all part of the challenge. All the teams start from the same place. We all get the same opportunity. We have been improving and we will continue to improve.

“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.”

Utility back Reece Hodge, outside back Tom Wright and loose forward Jed Holloway, who had all played in one of the four losing Tests as Jones experimented with old and new players, also didn’t make the World Cup cut.

Of the players who are headed to France, 16 are aged under 25 and 25 will be appearing at a World Cup for the first time.

Quade Cooper won’t be partnering Carter Gordon in France. Picture: Peter Meecham/Getty Images

Jones also picked three uncapped players, including 18-year-old NSW winger Max Jorgensen whose chances of making the squad looked dashed when he injured his knee in the second last round of the Super Rugby Pacific season. He hasn’t played since.

The other uncapped players in Jones’s squad are 27-year-old Western Force halfback Issak Fines-Leleiwasa, one of three No.9’s in the squad, and Brumbies prop Blake Schoupp.

Rookie fly-half Gordon will retain his place as first choice No.10 for Jones after 35-year-old Cooper, who returned to the Wallabies set-up under Dave Rennie last year and kept his place under Jones, was cast aside.

But the elevation of 31-year-old Skelton to the captaincy could be seen, arguably, as Jones’s biggest World Cup gamble.

The 140kg giant has played just 28 Tests since his debut in 2014 and spent much of his career playing club rugby in Europe.

Will Skelton will lead the Wallabies/ Picture: Morgan Hancock/Getty Images

Skelton still plays for French champions La Rochelle and was one of Jones’s “Giteau’s Law” picks that allows him to select players who don’t play their club rugby in Australia.

NRL convert Suliasi Vunivalu has held on to his spot despite modest returns in his two Tests, joining a strong wing contingent of Mark Nawaqanitawase and Marika Koroibete, with Andrew Kellaway likely to be first-choice fullback.

The squad is in the Northern Territory for a four-day training camp and will return to Sydney next week before flying out to Europe on Thursday.

Having not recorded a win leading into the tournament, the Wallabies will get a final chance with a practice match against France at the Stade de France next Saturday.

The Wallabies, drawn in Pool C alongside Wales, Fiji, Georgia and Portugal, play Georgia in Paris in their opening match on September 9.

WALLABIES 2023 WORLD CUP SQUAD

Forwards:

Hookers: Dave Porecki, Jordan Uelese, Matt Faessler

Props: Angus Bell, James Slipper, Blake Schoupp, Taniela Tupou, Pone Fa’amausili, Zane Nonggorr

Locks: Richie Arnold, Nick Frost, Will Skelton, Matt Philip

Back-row: Tom Hooper, Rob Leota, Fraser McReight, Rob Valetini, Langi Gleeson

Backs:

Halfbacks: Tate McDermott, Nic White, Issak Fines-Leleiwasa

Fly-halves: Carter Gordon

Centres: Samu Kerevi, Jordan Petaia, Izaia Perese, Lalakai Foketi,

Outside backs: Mark Nawaqanitawase, Suliasi Vunivalu, Marika Koroibete, Andrew Kellaway, Max Jorgensen

Utility: Ben Donaldson, Josh Kemeny