{"id":120129,"date":"2025-09-05T06:15:09","date_gmt":"2025-09-05T06:15:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/120129\/"},"modified":"2025-09-05T06:15:09","modified_gmt":"2025-09-05T06:15:09","slug":"lynagh-in-oconnor-out-as-wallabies-make-changes-for-pumas-test","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/120129\/","title":{"rendered":"Lynagh in, O’Connor out as Wallabies make changes for Pumas Test"},"content":{"rendered":"

James O\u2019Connor has been axed as the Wallabies\u2019 playmaker for Saturday\u2019s crucial Test against Argentina while Joseph Aukuso-Suaalii and Max Jorgensen<\/a> were both overlooked for the coveted fullback position with Joe Schmidt opting instead for \u2018a safe pair of hands\u2019.<\/p>\n

Utility back Andrew Kellaway won the race for the gold number 15 jersey, replacing the injured Tom Wright, while the Wallabies skipper Harry Wilson also returns to lead the side for what looms as a crunch match against the Pumas in Townsville because of the impact it could have on Australia\u2019s chances of a favourable seeding for the 2027 World Cup.<\/p>\n

Unwanted by Schmidt during Australia\u2019s series loss to the British & Irish Lions, 35-year-old Connor made a stunning return to the international arena last month when he was recalled to replace rising Queensland star Tom Lynagh after he was sidelined with a head injury.<\/p>\n

In one rugby\u2019s greatest upsets of all time, O\u2019Connor led the Wallabies to their first win over South Africa in Johannesburg since 1963.<\/p>\n

But with Lynagh given the green light to return, the son of World Cup legend Michael Lynagh has been given the nod to run the backline as the starting five-eighth role with O\u2019Connor dropping to the bench.<\/p>\n

With an eye to the future, Schmidt said he was confident Lynagh would slot straight back in after a punishing start to his Test career.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s pretty studious, so he knows how we\u2019re trying to play,\u201d Schmidt said.<\/p>\n

\u201cHis first three Test match starts were against the Lions. That\u2019s (not) a nice easy way to ease your way in, and it got very physical.<\/p>\n

\u201cObviously some of that was untoward and he\u2019s bounced back from that really well. We\u2019ve got him double-checked and we want to be as prudent with him as possible. He\u2019s very keen to play and will kick us off.\u201d<\/p>\n

Defying calls to give Jorgensen or Suaalii a crack at fullback after Wright\u2019s season-ending knee injury in South Africa, Schmidt decided to keep changes to a minimum.<\/p>\n

So he retained Jorgensen on the right wing, and Suaalii at outside centre, with Corey Toole, who made his debut against the world champion, on the left wing.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve got two very young wingers in terms of Test experience,\u201d Schmidt said. \u201cThey\u2019re growing into their roles and really enjoying the opportunity.<\/p>\n

\u201cTo have an experienced player at the back is important, particularly with Joseph Aukuso-Suaalii in the midfield as well. You\u2019ve got Len Ikitau, who\u2019s very experienced. And then we\u2019ve got Tom (Lynagh), who is not, and then we got (halfback) Nic White, who is.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo that was part of the framework that meant that Andrew Kellaway is a nice, safe pair of hands at the back.\u201d<\/p>\n

The return of Wilson at number eight and the unavailability of Will Skelton triggered a reshuffle of the forward pack.<\/p>\n

Rob Valetini moves from the back of the scrum to blindside flanker while Bathurst Bulldog Tom Hooper switches from breakaway to lock, replacing Skelton in the second row after he was recalled to his French club side.<\/p>\n

The Wallabies will go into the match as slight favourites despite losing four of their last five matches against Argentina, including a record 67-27 thrashing at their most recent encounter in 2024, but wary of the threat the South American\u2019s pose.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t think there\u2019s a lot of room for complacency. We watched Los Pumas beat the All Blacks,\u201d Schmidt said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s a big task and it\u2019s not one that we\u2019ve managed in recent times, so we respect their coaches a lot and their players.\u201d<\/p>\n

Riding high after their historic win at home over New Zealand last month, the Pumas have kept faith with the core group of players who got the job done against the All Blacks with Felipe Contepomi making just three chances to the starting 15.<\/p>\n

As expected, Santiago Carreras was promoted to the starting five-eighth after coming on for the injured regular playmaker Tomos Albornoz. Backrower Marcos Kremer also returns along with prop Joel Sclavi.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"James O\u2019Connor has been axed as the Wallabies\u2019 playmaker for Saturday\u2019s crucial Test against Argentina while Joseph Aukuso-Suaalii…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":120130,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[567],"tags":[6074,84938,64,63,689,84920,84919,651,84941,5956,9124,84918,84936,52769,84935,54599,84927,84915,45891,2105,84926,67731,24094,24003,84931,84922,57268,57265,84940,1381,84925,45884,84937,67722,84939,67733,3512,9366,84917,1736,67736,31227,84924,677,67723,84930,701,6488,760,84933,82884,41660,47911,1183,18780,85,84928,80793,63856,84916,84921,27477,84923,84929,84934,57072,84932,57272,55041,2753],"class_list":["post-120129","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-rugby","tag-africa","tag-andrew-kellaway","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-australia-and-new-zealand","tag-benjamin-elizalde","tag-blindside-flanker","tag-brisbane","tag-british-amp-irish-lions","tag-cape-town","tag-chris-hyde","tag-core-group","tag-corey-toole","tag-crystal-ball","tag-debut-caps","tag-felipe-contepomi","tag-francisco-coria-marchetti","tag-french-club-side","tag-gauteng","tag-getty-images-inc","tag-gold-jersey","tag-gonzalo-garcia","tag-harry-wilson","tag-head-injury","tag-historic-win","tag-injured-regular-playmaker","tag-james-oconnor","tag-james-slipper","tag-jeremy-williams","tag-joe-schmidt","tag-joel-sclavi","tag-johannesburg","tag-juan-cruz-mallia","tag-juan-martin-gonzalez","tag-julian-linden","tag-julian-montoya","tag-knee-injury","tag-max-jorgensen","tag-michael-lynagh","tag-new-zealand","tag-new-zealand-all-blacks","tag-nic-white","tag-nick-frost","tag-oceania","tag-pablo-matera","tag-pure-certainty","tag-queensland","tag-right-wing","tag-rugby","tag-ryan-lonergan","tag-santiago-carreras","tag-season-ending-knee-injury","tag-series-loss","tag-south-africa","tag-southern-africa","tag-sports","tag-starting-five-eighth-role","tag-starting-halfback","tag-starting-lineup","tag-starting-loosehead","tag-starting-playmaker","tag-stunning-return","tag-tighthead-prop","tag-tom-hooper","tag-tom-robertson","tag-tom-wright","tag-wallabies-team","tag-western-cape","tag-will-skelton","tag-world-champion"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/120129","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=120129"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/120129\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/120130"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=120129"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=120129"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=120129"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}