Dave Rennie has an eye on Wallabies’ tough schedule as he leaves Jordan Petaia out

It must have taken all of Dave Rennie’s self-control to leave Jordan Petaia out of his initial Wallabies side.

Wallabies coach Dave Rennie will not risk Jordan Petaia in the first Bledisloe Test

It must have taken all of Dave Rennie’s self-control to leave Jordan Petaia out of his initial Wallabies side for Sunday’s Test against the All Blacks in Wellington, but clearly he has one eye on Australia’s daunting schedule of eight internationals in the next nine weeks.

In just 21 Super Rugby games for Queensland dating back to 2018 and three World Cup Tests last year, Petaia has established himself as Australia’s most electrifying player.

But while he may have made his way back from the hip flexor injury he sustained in the Super Rugby AU grand final against the Brumbies to get on the training pitch in Christchurch, he clearly has not spent enough time there to persuade Rennie to risk him.

Australia’s decision to bring forward the final round of The Rugby Championship from December 12 to October 31 as part of the face-saving deal to get the All Blacks home to their families in time for Christmas, means the Wallabies will play over the next nine weeks the most intense and concentrated international schedule in their 598-Test history. It is on a par with them playing the USA as a prelude to their 2015 World Cup campaign, in which they played every round.

Given that Petaia has spent the best part of two seasons sidelined with ankle and shoulder injuries, Rennie clearly wasn’t going to send him over the top in the first attacking wave.

Indeed, Wallabies assistant coach Matt Taylor hinted at Petaia’s omission when interviewed on Wednesday. “Sometimes that has to do with training times and combinations and time on ground and things like that,” he said.

But if the leaks out of Christchurch are correct, Rennie might not have taken any risks on Petaia’s fitness, but he has gambled massively on the player he has picked to replace him at outside centre, fellow Reds player Hunter Paisami.

Paisami, who migrated north from the Rebels, has been one of the finds of the season. He was named on the bench for the Reds at the start of the year and only came into the starting team as an injury replacement for Petaia. In attack, he has been mercurial but in defence he missed a staggering 24 tackles, the worst stat in Super Rugby AU.

It is not that he is a reluctant defender. Just the opposite, in fact – he is too aggressive, twice being yellow carded. He rushes out of the line, leaving gaps in the defensive pattern. If he makes that mistake on Sunday, the All Blacks will surely punish him.

Still, it is a sign of Rennie’s attacking mindset that he is going that way. England, too, rushed up on the outside to herd the All Blacks back into the “killing field” of their pack when they beat them at the World Cup semi-final and indications are Rennie is drilling the Wallabies to play similarly in defence.

His other two starting debutants, winger Filipo Daugunu and number eight Harry Wilson – both Queenslanders – will both bring plenty, to both sides of the ball.

Daugunu, the former Fijian soccer goalie who in June rejected a $2 million offer over three season to join a Top League club in Japan, is hell on wheels in attack. He scored most tries, had most carries, most offloads, ran more metres and beat more defenders than any other player in Super Rugby AU.

True, he also topped the stats for conceding most turnovers and had easily his most forgettable match in the final against the Brumbies, but there is no question that he and John Eales Medalist Marika Koroibete give the Wallabies serious strike power on the flanks.

While Paisami and Daugunu both have ridden the rollercoaster all the way through this turbulent season, it would have to be said that Wilson has arrived unflustered at this destination, like a man familiar with all the stops on his train line.

Queenslanders are beginning to speak of him in the same breath as Mark Loane and Toutai Kefu, the two greatest number eights in Wallabies history. That’s an astonishing load to lay on a 20-year-old, but there will come a moment in Sunday’s Test when the battle will be at its most intense, no quarter asked or given. Watch for Wilson.

Seemingly, Rennie will start with James O’Connor at 10. Seven years ago, another Kiwi coach – Robbie Deans – also entrusted the playmaker role to a younger and considerably less mature O’Connor against the British and Irish Lions. On that occasion, he struggled with the responsibility. O’Connor still might not be an instinctive five-eighth like, say, a Richie Mo’ounga, but all indications are the 30-year-old will handle the job this time.

Certainly he will buy time for Rennie to be able to use Brumbies’ 20-year-old playmaker Noah Lolesio – expected to be named among the reserves today – in less pressured circumstances. There are, as he well knows, seven Tests to follow in short order.