Eddie Jones shocks with new Wallaby captain
SQUAD ANNOUNCEMENT: Australia coach Eddie has backed young players to spearhead the Wallabies’ campaign to win their third World Cup which kicks off in France next month.
Eddie Jones has named 18 forwards, 13 backs and two utility players in the group with 25 men set to feature in their first World Cup.
However, the biggest shock is the team’s captain.
Eight years after being selected in his first World Cup squad, Will Skelton will captain the side in France, named to lead the side with Sunshine Coast junior Tate McDermott as vice-captain.
“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 Australia 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.
“World Cup is a tournament, and tournament rugby is different to competition rugby.
“Look at the women’s soccer World Cup. 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.
“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.
“I’ve backed the young blokes because they earned it. Simple as that.
“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 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.
“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.”
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Jones has selected three uncapped players, in Port Douglas junior Issak Fines-Leleiwasa, 18-year-old Max Jorgensen and NSW South Coast product Blake Schoupp.
Jorgensen would be the youngest ever Australian to debut at a World Cup if named to play in any game at the tournament.
After making his Test debut as a 19-year-old in the 2019 tournament in Japan, Jordan Petaia has been selected for his second World Cup, as has Samu Kerevi, Marika Koroibete, Taniela Tupou, Jordan Uelese and Nic White.
The group has an average age of 26 and an average of 20 Tests per player, the lowest of an Australian World Cup squad since the 1991 edition of the tournament.
The Wallabies to hold a four-day camp in the Northern Territory beginning Thursday, travelling to Sydney on Monday before flying to Paris on Thursday.
Australian World Cup squad
Forwards
Props: Angus Bell, Pone Fa’amausili, Zane Nonggorr, Blake Schoupp, James Slipper, Taniela Tupou
Hookers: Matt Faessler, David Porecki, Jordan Uelese
Locks: Richie Arnold, Nick Frost, Matt Philip, Will Skelton (captain)
Back row: Langi Gleeson, Tom Hooper, Rob Leota, Fraser McReight, Rob Valetini
Backs
Scrumhalves: Issak Fines-Leleiwasa, Tate McDermott, Nic White
Flyhalf: Carter Gordon
Centres: Lalakai Foketi, Samu Kerevi, Izaia Perese, Jordan Petaia
Outside backs: Max Jorgensen, Andrew Kellaway, Marika Koroibete, Mark Nawaqanitawase, Suliasi Vunivalu
Utility: Ben Donaldson, Josh Kemeny
Wallaby fixtures
Warm-up
Versus France, Sunday, August 27 at Stade de France, Paris
World Cup
Versus Georgia, Saturday, September 9 at Stade de France, Paris
Versus Fiji, Sunday, September 17 at Stade Geoffroy-Guichard, Saint-Étienne
Versus Wales, Sunday, September 24 at OL Stadium, Lyon
Versus Portugal, Sunday, October 1 at Stade Geoffroy-Guichard, Saint-Étienne
