Feisty halfback Nic White has been dumped from the Wallabies side to take on the All Blacks in the second clash on Saturday, but coach Joe Schmidt has otherwise resisted the urge to promote star bench performers from the thrilling first Bledisloe Cup in Sydney.
The return of Jake Gordon to starting halfback, at the expense of White, was the only unforced change made by Schmidt for the second Bledisloe Cup Test in Wellington, where the Wallabies will be seeking to win their first Test in New Zealand since 2001.
A wrist injury to star winger Marika Koroibete has seen former Aussie sevens star Dylan Pietsch given his first Test start, with Josh Flook added to the bench as the reserve outside back.
In the only other change to a settled team, Ben Donaldson has been recalled to the bench as the reserve playmaker, with Tom Lynagh dropping out due to a niggly hamstring injury. Lynagh did not get on the field in the Wallabies’ 31-28 loss to the All Blacks in Sydney.
Schmidt elected to keep big lock Lukhan Salakaia-Loto on the bench for the Wellington clash, despite making a strong claim to start with impressive performance from the bench in Sydney in the second half. Nick Frost and Jeremy Williams will start.
But Schmidt has clearly opted to retain the second-half impact value of Salakaia-Loto, which also came from Brandon Paenga-Amosa, Tate McDermott and Allan Alaalatoa in Sydney.
Pietsch was also strong, and he has been trusted with his first start after Koroibete was ruled out with a wrist injury. It’s unclear whether the winger’s injury contributed to an uncharacteristically poor game in Sydney, but the long-term Wallabies future of the two-time John Eales medallist is now under a cloud.
Based on the 2022 season, when Koroibete withdrew from the Spring Tour to concentrate on his Japanese club, there is no guarantee the 32-year-old will play in the November Test matches.
And with the next dates in the Wallabies’ calendar coming with the British and Irish Lions Test series in July next year, the star winger’s selection chances may not be as straight-forward as they have traditionally been in most of his stellar rugby career.
The demotion of White will see yet another change at no.9 for the Wallabies, who have swapped the starting halfback 17 times in the last 25 Tests.
Marika Koroibete charging for the Wallabies in Sydney.Credit: Getty Images
White was busy in Sydney but also drew the ire of the referee Karl Dickson for his constant chat, which even forced the whistleblower to admonish White at one point.
All Blacks coach Scott Robertson also named his side for the Wellington clash, and recalled several veterans to the starting team in the form of Beauden Barrett and TJ Perenara in the halves, and with Anton Lienert-Brown replacing the injured Jordie Barrett at no.12.
Flanker Sam Cane will become the 13th All Black to play 100 Tests for New Zealand.
More to come
