Bernard Foley’s international rugby career is set to be revived in remarkable fashion on Thursday night, with Wallabies coach Dave Rennie poised to name the veteran playmaker at No.10 for Australia’s opening Bledisloe Cup match in Melbourne.
Almost three years since Foley last represented the Wallabies, the 33-year-old New South Welshman will find himself back in the same jersey that he made his own between 2014 and 2019.
While Rennie won’t reveal his starting XV until Tuesday, two days out from the showdown with the All Blacks, the Wallabies have confirmed that Foley is set to take his place at No.10.
Young playmaker Noah Lolesio, who suffered a head knock in the second half of Australia’s most recent 24-8 loss to the Springboks, has not been cleared to play.
It has left the Wallabies in the unwanted position of having their top three No.10s all on the injury list.
Quade Cooper won’t play any Test rugby for the rest of the year after rupturing his Achilles tendon in Argentina.
Bernard Foley at Wallabies training on the Gold Coast.Credit:Andrew Phan/Wallabies Media
James O’Connor has been used at five-eighth this year and although he is not in the current Wallabies squad, his availability is also under a cloud after picking up a syndesmosis injury in Brisbane club rugby on the weekend.
It is unclear how long O’Connor will be out for but his absence could pave a path for Foley for the remainder of the year.
Foley had accepted his time with the Wallabies was over after the 2019 World Cup when he decided to ply his trade in Japan.
After steering Australia to the World Cup final in 2015, Foley had a mortgage on the Wallabies No.10 jersey in the years that followed but his position in the team was uncertain heading into the 2019 World Cup in Japan as Christian Leali’ifano and Matt To’omua were given extra minutes.
Bernard Foley against the Springboks in 2019.Credit:EPA
Foley only played in one match at the 2019 World Cup in a 29-25 loss to Wales in the pool stages.
Foley, who won a Super Rugby title with the Waratahs in 2014, re-joined the Wallabies group last month after an invitation from Rennie and now finds himself on the cusp of a clash with the All Blacks for the first time since 2018.
The 71-Test playmaker’s record against New Zealand is two wins, 12 losses and one draw.
Less than a year out from the World Cup in France, Foley now gets an unexpected chance to prove to Rennie that he deserves to be in the selection frame.
“He’s been a good fit since he’s come back,” Wallabies assistant coach Dan McKellar said this week. “Really enjoyed meeting him and getting to know him. He’s a good man and team man.”
Meanwhile, there is still doubt surrounding the availability of prop Taniela Tupou (calf) and Hunter Paisami (concussion) for the first of two matches against the Kiwis.
The Wallabies will need to win in Melbourne to keep their Bledisloe dream alive before another match in Auckland at Eden Park on September 24. The men in gold have not won the Bledisloe Cup since 2002.
“We feel like we’ve come up with a strategy that will suit this team for this weekend,” McKellar said.
“We’ve got to be better this week. If we dish up what we dished up in Sydney [against South Africa], the All Blacks will hurt us.”
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