Following the announcement of Joe Schmidt’s Wallabies squad for the upcoming Nations Championship, we select our winners and losers.
Australia’s outgoing head coach has made several surprising calls in his 37-man group ahead of his final international window in charge of the side before handing over the reins to Les Kiss.
Planet Rugby unpacks the squad, which features three uncapped players and the return of James Slipper after a brief international retirement. So without further ado, here are our winners and losers.
Winners
Uncapped Brumbies duo
Noah Lolesio’s departure to Japan gave Declan Meredith the opportunity to really stamp his authority on the Brumbies number 10 jersey, and the 26-year-old rose to the challenge and starred for ACT throughout the 2026 Super Rugby Pacific campaign.
The playmaker has patiently waited for his chance to shine, and while he impressed in his handful of starts last season, he went to another level in 2026 and thoroughly deserves his Wallabies call-up.
Earlier this year, Waratahs coach Dan McKellar warned of overhyping the pivot amid fears that it could place too much pressure on him.
“When are we going to learn that that sort of pressure on young men doesn’t help them? It’s been going on for I don’t know how many years now,” McKellar said in March.
“I could rattle off 10 names of players who have played a couple of good games (and get overhyped). We’re just trying to find the diamond in the rough. Declan’s been good, but I think as a game we need not to apply pressure on him and think that he’s going to be the next big thing.”
Instead of folding under the pressure, Meredith thrived to steer the Brumbies into the play-offs. He has benefited from the absence of Tom Lynagh and the fact that Schmidt has overlooked James O’Connor and Lolesio, but that does not mean he is not absolutely deserving of his call-up.
Perhaps the most surprising inclusion in the squad is Meredith’s clubmate, Lachlan Shaw. The 2m tall lock has been given the nod ahead of Nick Frost and Lukhan Salakaia-Loto, with Schmidt putting an extra emphasis on the Wallabies’ lineout. Shaw was another standout performer for the Brumbies during the Super Rugby Pacific campaign, winning 55 lineouts and claiming 11 steals at the set-piece. Joel Brial was the only Australian to win more lineouts this season, while only Jeremy Williams (16) and Warner Dearns (15) claimed more steals.
The 23-year-old is no slouch around the park either, averaging around 15 tackles and six carries per game. Shaw’s selection is well deserved, but only time will tell if he is ready to make the step up to the international level in terms of physicality. However, the lineout is clearly an area of improvement for the Wallabies’ staff, considering the 84% success rate during the Autumn Nations Series last November, a slight improvement from the Rugby Championship (83%).
Will Skelton’s successor
Miles Amatosero is the third and final uncapped player selected by Schmidt, with the Waratahs lock effectively called up to fill the gigantic void that Will Skelton leaves. Skelton suffered a ruptured Achilles in March while playing for La Rochelle, which has ruled him out for the entire 2026 international season.
During Schmidt’s tenure, the Wallabies haven’t found a like-for-like replacement for Skelton, but Amatosero does offer a similar build. However, the real challenge for him will be replicating the La Rochelle star’s ball-carrying prowess, which will be no easy feat.
“Miles, you can see…he’s the right size and shape and he’s brought a really positive mentality to his own growth and development, particularly through that Super Rugby once he got over a few hiccups and he’s gone really well,” the head coach said of the uncapped lock.
“I think we’ve always got that short-term focus but a long-term vision. He’s had three years playing in France, he’s had a couple of years back here now, so he’s put himself in the right position to really springboard from there.”
Amatosero’s season got off to a rocky start after he received a four-match suspension ahead of the Super Rugby Pacific campaign for punching teammate Angus Scott-Young. That kind of act would put a lot of coaches off, but perhaps Schmidt appreciated the added bit of bite and aggression the brawling second-rower can bring.
Overseas quartet
Rugby Australia have largely scrapped ‘Giteau Law’ and Schmidt has taken the opportunity to select four players based in the northern hemisphere: Exeter Chiefs stars Len Ikitau and Tom Hooper, France-based prop Taniela Tupou and loosehead prop Angus Bell.
Bell enjoyed a sabbatical with Ulster in Ireland where he shone for the Irish province, who reached the Challenge Cup final and narrowly missed out on the United Rugby Championship play-offs. The livewire front-rower crucially bolsters the Wallabies’ loosehead stocks, which have been hit with injuries.
Meanwhile, Ikitau and Hooper will arrive late in camp as they turn out for Exeter in the PREM Rugby final this weekend against Northampton Saints after stunning Bath Rugby. Ditto for tighthead Tupou as Racing 92 progressed to the Top 14 semi-finals after edging Pau in the barrage play-off.
James Slipper
All it took was a cup of coffee to convince the Wallabies’ all-time Test appearance record holder Slipper that his international career was not yet done.
“It cost me a coffee,” Schmidt said of luring Slipper back at 37. “There’s an old dog – great to lean on and he’s a known quantity and leader in the group, which we lacked a bit during last season (after injuries hit).”
The Wallabies’ loosehead stocks have been squeezed with Blake Schoupp facing four to six months out with a Lisfranc injury, while Tom Robertson, Tom Lambert and Aidan Ross have all dealt with injury issues around the end of the Super Rugby Pacific season. Ross has still been included in the squad, but Schmidt said that the squad missed leadership in the group.
“He is very much a leader in the group, which we lacked a little bit when we lost him, Nic White and a few others last season,” the head coach added.
While Ireland will arrive in Australia with depleted front-row stocks this July, the Wallabies will face powerful scrummaging packs when tackling France and Italy. Having a wily operator like Slipper is a huge boost for Australia.
Carter Gordon
Following his stint in the NRL, Carter Gordon endured a troublesome return to the Wallabies jumper, starting the defeat to Italy last November. However, he hit good form during the Super Rugby Pacific season and deservedly earns a recall to the Test set-up.
Fly-half has been a troublesome position for Australia under Schmidt, particularly last year after Lolesio and Lynagh’s injuries, and Gordon now gets a great opportunity to snap up the jersey. He is in an even more fortunate position having worked under incoming head coach Kiss all season, with Schmidt confirming that the ex-Queensland Reds boss has weighed in on selection.
“Les was very much in the meetings where we were doing selection, and we’re just trying to put together the best plan,” Schmidt confirmed.
Charlie Cale
Injuries have severely hampered Charlie Cale’s international ambitions with the back-rower unable to add to his two Test caps that he earned against Wales in 2024. A similar script looked to be unfolding earlier this year as he missed rounds 10 to 15 through injury, but the Brumbies star made a timely return in the latter stages of the campaign and remained fit enough to earn a recall to the squad.
However, he will know that he has done just half the job as he faces stiff competition for a place in the Wallabies back-row, especially if he is viewed as a number eight by the coaching team with Harry Wilson likely to captain the side again.
Jock Campbell
Perhaps another benefactor from working so closely with the incoming head coach Kiss, Queensland back Jock Campbell earns a recall to the Wallabies squad for the first time since November 2022.
Still, the 31-year-old impressed this Super Rugby Pacific season, so much so that he was included in the competition’s inaugural Team of the Year, which was selected using the top performers in the Player of the Year voting across each position.
His selection comes at the expense of Andrew Kellaway, but there will be stiff competition for the full-back jersey with Max Jorgensen thriving in the number 15 jumper for the Waratahs; Ben Donaldson, Tom Wright and Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii provide Schmidt options at the back.
Ben Donaldson
Speaking of Donaldson, he too was named in the Super Rugby Pacific Team of the Year and earns a recall to the Wallabies set-up after he was unceremoniously dropped from the squad last year following the British and Irish Lions tour.
The Western Force pivot revealed the two main reasons why he was snubbed by Schmidt last year on the KOKO Show.
“One, just consistency. I think my game style – the way I play – I like to try things and express myself and move the ball, and sometimes that comes with errors. Obviously, as a 10, you’re going to touch the ball; you’re going to have a lot of errors,” he said.
“But I think just my consistency hasn’t been great, whether it’s in Super or for the Wallabies; that’s one thing. And then just what Joe’s told me around the contact area, my defence, my physicality, and then just the high ball as well. Obviously, the high ball is a massive part of the game, and the Wallabies are probably struggling the most out of anyone. So yeah, just those things I can keep working on, and that’s what I’ll be working on when I get back to pre-season.”
Schmidt has clearly seen improvements from the 27-year-old and he now gets the opportunity to stake his claim for the number 10 jersey.
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Losers
Injured stars
The Wallabies battled with a lengthy injury list last year, and Schmidt starts the 2026 international season without key players like lock Skelton, loosehead props Robertson and Schoupp.
Code hooper Zac Lomax is also sidelined, as is fly-half Lynagh, uncapped number nine Henry Robertson and ‘Tahs stalwart Jake Gordon, who was reportedly in the mix to skipper the team last year. Kadin Pritchard was also namechecked in the Wallabies squad release, which limits the centre options with Hunter Paisami also in a race against time to feature in the opener against Ireland.
Montpellier-based Langi Gleeson played just twice for his new club this season due to injury, while the Wallabies’ hooker stocks are also without Ethan Dobbins and Folau Fainga’a.
Matt Faessler
The injuries at hooker makes Matt Faessler’s omission all the more puzzling. The 27-year-old played three of Australia’s November internationals last year and scored a brace against France but has been overlooked with Schmidt favouring his clubmate Josh Nasser, Brandon Paenga-Amosa and Billy Pollard.
Lukhan Salakaia-Loto
Arguably the biggest omission from the squad and the one that Schmidt has copped the most heat about. The head coach explained that the 29-year-old’s output needs improvement but says that he is bound to be in the mix later on in the year under Kiss.
“Lukhan’s an incredible athlete. I think he had some really good moments in Super Rugby. It was probably just stringing consecutive moments together,” Schmidt told reporters.
“We’re looking for him just to have a bit of a block where he can get himself into the best physical shape to best contribute to the team. What we do need is fast jumping locks, and we know he’s got that speed, but he’s just not quite where we’d like him to be at the moment and we just think we can take this window [to get there]. He’s been a big part of Les’ [Kiss, incoming Wallabies coach] team this year.”
Still, it’s a shock omission considering that Salakaia-Loto was named in the Super Rugby Team of the Year and continues a trend of the second-rower being overlooked by Schmidt. Last year, he was snubbed for the Lions Series and only linked up with the squad after impressive shifts against the touring side for the Reds, First Nations and Pasifika XV and the AUNZ XV.
With Skelton sidelined, the Wallabies desperately need an enforcer in the second-row and Salakaia-Loto seemingly fits the bill.
Nick Frost
A snub that has flown somewhat under the radar with Salakaia-Loto stealing the spotlight. However, Nick Frost’s absence is perhaps significant considering that the Brumbies lock was one of the most consistent selections for the Wallabies last two years.
He played all three Tests against the Lions, missed just one Rugby Championship match and featured in the four November internationals. Shaw usurped him in the Brumbies’ pecking order during the tail end of the Super Rugby season but it’s still bizarre that the 25 Test cap lock has been snubbed for the July internationals.
The only logical reasoning for his omission could be that Schmidt and Kiss want to test the lock depth waters this July and rest Frost for the matches against Japan, Argentina, South Africa and the Bledisloe Cup Tests. The Wallabies know that they have a world-class operator in Frost and considering he had some injury troubles this year, perhaps a month off is not the worst idea. If it’s a snub, it’s indefensible.
Andrew Kellaway
Kellaway’s snub looked likely after he was named in Scott Robertson’s Barbarians team to face the Springboks in PE this weekend. The red-headed Waratahs back is another who has been a regular in Schmidt’s teams during his tenure.
However, his form slipped this season, and it’s clear that has been a main selection requirement for the coaches ahead of the July international.
Massimo De Lutiis
After the big fuss around keeping Massimo De Lutiis in Australia amid interest from Ireland, it does come as somewhat of a surprise not to see the tighthead prop’s name featured on the squad list.
At 22, he still has plenty of time to force his way into the Test set-up, but there are several other selection calls with an eye to the future. In Allan Alaalatoa, Zane Nonggorr, Tupou and even Slipper, the Wallabies aren’t short on tighthead prop options, but including De Lutiis even just to train with the squad, would have been a smart ploy.
Joe Brial
Another position where the Wallabies are well stocked is at blindside flanker, with the likes of Hooper, Rob Valetini, Nick Champion De Crespigny and Cale all offering Schmidt options on the side of the scrum.
However, Queenslander Brial will still feel hard done by after a fantastic Super Rugby Pacific season, particularly after Schmidt’s comments around Salakaia-Loto’s lineout shortcomings. As mentioned above, Brial was the leading lineout jumper in Super Rugby this season and was equally busy around the park too. Unfortunately, he has fallen victim to the loose forward depth.
Noah Lolesio
One can argue that Lolesio made his own bed by leaving the Brumbies to sign with Japanese second-division side, the Toyota Industries Shuttles.
Lolesio was the head coach’s first-choice fly-half for the entirety of his first year in charge, and that didn’t look to change in year two before an injury against Fiji curtailed his international season and denied him the opportunity to feature against the British and Irish Lions.
Again, Schmidt and Kiss are able to select overseas-based players, but the coaching team has favoured local fly-half talents instead in Carter, Donaldson and Meredith. After investing so much time and caps into Lolesio, it’s baffling that Schmidt and co have now discarded him completely.
James O’Connor
O’Connor has been outshone at Leicester Tigers by Englishman Billy Searle, with the pair recruited to fill Handre Pollard’s void at the PREM Rugby club. However, considering his impact and influence on the Wallabies squad last year and his rumoured return to Australia, the veteran’s omission from the squad is at the very least questionable.
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