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Wallabies squad thin on playmakers may come back to bite Joe Schmidt

Wallabies coach Joe Schmidt named his 36-man squad to face Fiji and the British & Irish Lions, recalling the enigmatic Will Skelton from La Rochelle, rewarding the uncapped Nick Champion de Crespigny’s rousing form for Castres Olympique, and bringing giant lock Darcy Swain in from the cold.

Former star prop Taniela Tupou had wondered publicly if he’d forgotten how to play the game but Schmidt believes he can rekindle his glory days. Perth-born Carlo Tizzano is in having led Super Rugby try-scoring and tackle counts all year. And Sevens bolter Corey Toole, who scored twice in the Brumbies’ semi-final loss, looks set for a Test debut with Queensland’s Tim Ryan missing out.

With half-a-million fans set to attend nine sold-out games on this ninth Lions tour, Schmidt knows 2025 must be a gamechanger for Rugby Australia. The tour, a 12-year circus, needs to fund the vaunted “golden era” of a home 2027 men’s World Cup, the 2029 women’s World Cup and the 2032 Brisbane Olympics.

France reported a $2.5b injection into their economy after hosting the 2023 RWC, and Australia’s 2027 tournament, featuring an increased 24 teams, could be even bigger. However, the only currency that matters for fans is on-field success and having extended his reign until July 2026 Schmidt has adopted a “win at all costs” credo.

Previously, the 59-year-old has preferred picking local loyalists rather than overseas players. Yet yesterday’s squad was notable for featuring flanker Langi Gleeson (who Schmidt once uninvited to camp after he signed to play in France), flyhalf Noah Lolesio (heading to Japan in 2026), centre Len Ikitau and flanker Tom Hooper (both off to Exeter) and prop Angus Bell (taking a sabbatical to Ulster).

It’s a sign Schmidt will forgive such double-agents if it means maintaining depth. A powerful Lions squad lands on Saturday for three Tests, four tour games against Australia’s state sides, plus two invitational fixtures featuring a hybrid Australia and New Zealand team and a First Nations & Pasifika XV. A high attrition rate is expected along the way so Schmidt has relaxed his stance on his squad playing Tests or tour games, not both.

Last month he told media he intended to “safeguard” a core of 25 Wallabies and release the rest of the squad to represent their states or the invitational side to be helmed by incoming national coach Les Kiss. “We don’t want to deprive someone of the opportunity of playing against the Lions if they’re not going to get the Test jersey,” Schmidt said.

In naming a host of injured players – hooker Matt Faessler (hamstring), winger Max Jorgensen (ankle), fly halves Lolesio (HIA) and Tom Lynagh (finger) and star signing Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii (jaw), Schmidt has backtracked to ensure his men are fit for the Lion challenge. “To get a game under their belt before they actually come into Wallaby camp may be the most advantageous situation,” he said.

The Wallabies and Flying Fijians have met 23 times over 73 years, splitting their first two series in 1952 and 1954 before 69 years and 83 days of Australian supremacy. The banana skin for Schmidt is that this streak ended at the side’s last meeting, the 39-21 cataclysm in France that sent Australia home early from the 2023 World Cup. Despite the retirement of captain Waisea Nayacalevu, Fiji have improved since then, defeating Wales and almost upsetting England. Under new coach Mick Byrne – a former Wallabies assistant to Michael Cheika – they will be ready to punish their hosts again when they face them in Newcastle on 6 July.

The bad omens don’t end there. When Australia played their first Test in Newcastle, another calamity ensued. The 2012 Wallabies coached by Robbie Deans and led by now senator David Pocock braved rain and 120kph gales in an ugly 9-6 loss to Scotland. The only silver lining that dark night was a debut by one Michael Hooper.

Let’s hope that ghost story doesn’t feature at camp, nor that of Arthur Seddon, first captain of the Lions, who drowned in Newcastle’s Hunter River on the 1888 tour. Instead, Schmidt must get busy building combinations and getting inside the brains of his players with a gameplan to undo Lions coach Andy Farrell’s UK all-stars.

He has elected to do so without the “Three Amigos”. Active veterans James O’Connor and Kurtley Beale, who almost stole the 2013 series from the Lions, missed selection, something third amigo, Quade Cooper, warns might come back to bite a Wallabies squad thin on playmakers and badly in need of a creative director at 10.

Schmidt has 36 pieces and less than a month to assemble the Wallabies puzzle. There are hungry Lions on the doorstep and plenty of Australian pride on the line.

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