VIDEO: Wallaby star battered and bruised as Ireland showdown looms

SPOTLIGHT: Lock Jeremy Williams has been left sporting a black eye and grazed face as the Wallabies up the intensity ahead of a high-stakes Nations Championship opener against Ireland.

Coming off the first winless four-Test tour of Europe since 1959, which included a 19-46 shellacking at the hands of the Irish, the Wallabies know the importance of kicking off 2026 with a bang ahead of next year’s home World Cup.

The desperation was evident at training on Tuesday when Williams fell victim to some friendly fire from abrasive loose forward and dual John Eales medallist Rob Valetini.

“Just a little head clash,” Williams said, playing down the incident.

“I think it was Bobby actually. Yeah, I came off second best.”

The last time two Australian teammates clashed also involved locks colliding, but in much more sinister fashion.

Footage from a drone was later leaked from NSW Waratahs pre-season training capturing Miles Amatosero laying into Angus Scott-Young and fracturing his eye socket.

Amatosero received a four-match suspension but has since atoned, with form impressive enough this Super Rugby Pacific campaign to earn his maiden Wallabies call-up.

The 24-year-old firebrand and Brumbies lock Lachlan Shaw, 23, are in line for Test debuts against Ireland at Allianz Stadium on Saturday after coach Joe Schmidt surprisingly omitted vastly experienced pair Nick Frost and Lukhan Salakaia-Loto.

“To be honest, I don’t really think too much about it. I just focus on myself, do what I need to do,” Williams said of Schmidt’s shock selections.

Williams, though, did admit competition for spots was clearly being felt in the hearty training sessions since the squad assembled in Sydney last week.

“It’s been good. It’s been hard,” he said.

“It’s been intense, but really good. We’ve had some really quality sessions and are building really nicely for this weekend.”

The inaugural Nations Championship features the top 12-ranked countries in the world, with two six-team pools – one from Europe’s Six Nations contestants, the other from the southern hemisphere plus Japan.

Every nation plays the other six from the opposite group before the top team in each pool clashes in the Final in London in November.

Wallabies fullback Tom Wright has welcomed the refreshing new format and admits the biennial competition – to be contested every other year out from a World Cup or British and Irish Lions series – has an extra edge to it.

“If I put my spectator hat on, or I speak for my family, for instance, who can now follow the calendar season a lot more easily, there’s something to refer to after a weekend or two weekends of games,” Wright said.

“You can see who’s sitting in which slot – southern versus northern sort of standings.

“By the end of the calendar season, you end up versing a team and you’re playing for a little bit more maybe. It’s been noted that this is an awesome new format for us and we’re just trying to get through the July Tests first.

“We still look at it as our July series on home soil, which is awesome, but we’re all aware of it, the elephant in the room, which is cool.”

Ranked eighth, the Wallabies are the outsiders to beat 2026 Six Nations runners-up Ireland for the first time since 2018.

“The handful of times I’ve played Ireland, it’s always been at Aviva Stadium [in Dublin], which is difficult enough on its day,” Wright said.

“You know the threat that they pose as No.3 in the world, whether they’re home or away.”