Sam BruceMar 26, 2026, 09:34 AM
CloseSam was brought up on long drives and the dusty fields of north-west New South Wales, where he developed his love of rugby from an early age. He joined ESPN after a five-year stint heading up Fox Sports Australia’s digital rugby coverage.
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The Wallabies are likely to be without a trio of overseas stars for the Bledisloe Cup this year, on account of “Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry” between New Zealand and South Africa, and Australia’s reworked southern hemisphere Test calendar.
ESPN understands European clubs will not have to release the likes of Will Skelton, Taniela Tupou and Tom Hooper, given World Rugby’s designated international window will have closed two weeks earlier.
As it stands, those players would be available for the one-off Test with the Springboks in Perth, but how much sense it would make flying them home for a solitary appearance is debatable.
World Rugby’s southern hemisphere release window, which operates under Regulation 9 and stipulates players must be released by their clubs for international duty, typically runs for nine weeks starting with the opening weekend in August. Clubs are there bound to release players for six weeks of that nine-week period.
Australia’s Bledisloe Cup series has been pushed back a week later than last year – the Tests will be played on Oct. 10 & 17 — when Skelton, who plays his club rugby with La Rochelle in France, was only available for the second Test because of his late arrival.
Wallabies coach Joe Schmidt typically likes to have players spend at least a week in camp before they are available for selection, with Skelton only featuring in last year’s second Test in Perth which he then departed early after a head knock.
Just how Les Kiss, who will replace Schmidt as Wallabies coach, manages his overseas stars remains to be seen, but given Rugby Australia’s desire for continuity it may be that the Queenslander runs with the same planning for returning overseas stars.
An RA spokesperson confirmed the governing body was aware of the scenario and the parties involved were “eyes open” before SANZAAR ratified its Test calendar through to 2031 late last year.
Will Skelton may not be available for the Bledisloe Cup this year on account of the later series start James Worsfold/Getty Images
The situation is far from ideal regardless, and a direct result of the four-Test series between the All Blacks and Springboks, which will be played across South Africa and finally in Baltimore, where the fourth and final game will be played.
The tour, which will be repeated in New Zealand in 2030, has seen Australia lock in a two-Test home-and-away series with Japan, which will serve as Kiss’ first series in charge, followed by a two-Test tour of Argentina.
Whether Kiss will look to utilise Tupou, Skelton and Hooper in those Tests, given the lack of a bigger prize, remains to be seen. However, all of Australia’s overseas-based Wallabies will be available, pending fitness, for the Nations Championship games against Ireland, France and Italy in July.
Fortunately, the Bledisloe blow will not extend to stars Angus Bell and Len Ikitau, with the duo’s overseas sabbaticals for one season alone.
Hooper meanwhile is an interesting case. The Wallabies back-rower is understood to have signed a two-year deal with Exeter, despite it being reported as one season elsewhere.
While Rugby Australia has forged a working relationship with the English club, the Chiefs could foreseeably refuse a request for Hooper’s release for the Bledisloe Cup.
The former Brumbies back-rower made his return from injury in Exeter’s 26-14 Premiership win over Sale last weekend, earning man-of-the-match honours in his first game since mid-January.
“Great to be back, dropped a few kgs so a few of the boys thought I’d be dominated in the contact so hopefully I did my job today,” Hooper said post-match.
“In this Prem, anyone can beat anyone, so every dog has its day, and you have to be on your toes. I’m really happy how we started that first half to show a bit of grit there in the end which is nice.”
Taniela Tupou is now playing his club rugby in France, meaning any Wallabies games he plays must fall within a designated Test window Cameron Spencer/Getty Images
What Tupou’s Test future holds is also unknown.
At his best, he is a world-class tighthead prop who can either start or provide huge impact off the bench. But at his worst, he can be a disinterested penalty magnet who attracts the ire of referees.
The former Reds, Rebels and Waratahs prop was at his best in the final Test against the British and Irish Lions in Sydney and later ensured the Wallabies scrum held its own in Australia’s drought-breaking win over the Springboks in Johannesburg.
He has played just six games for Racing 92, all off the bench, averaging 28 minutes since his switch to the Parisian club at the end of 2025. Tupou has however managed two try-scoring doubles, as well as a further five-pointer, through those matches.
But still only 29, there is a feeling that Tupou’s best rugby remains in front of him and he could yet prove a key pillar for the Wallabies as they chase a third Webb Ellis Trophy at a home Rugby World Cup next year.
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With the Giteau Law now virtually defunct, as confirmed by Rugby Australia director of performance Peter Horne last year, Kiss will be able to select players from wherever he likes once he takes the reins in August.
But that may come with a hefty Bledisloe blockade in what will be the Queenslander’s sixth and seventh Tests in charge, those games also seeing the Wallabies face former coach Dave Rennie for the first time since his move to the All Blacks.
Ironically, the All Blacks will have access to Richie Mo’unga for the Bledisloe Cup, with the playmaker’s three-year Test exile set to come to an end at the conclusion of “Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry”.
The All Blacks won last year’s trans-Tasman series 2-0 under now sacked coach Scott Robertson, extending their Bledisloe dominance into a 23rd straight year.