{"id":151420,"date":"2025-09-18T05:57:12","date_gmt":"2025-09-18T05:57:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/151420\/"},"modified":"2025-09-18T05:57:12","modified_gmt":"2025-09-18T05:57:12","slug":"bledisloe-cup-beckons-oconnor-as-refreshed-wallabies-name-squad","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/151420\/","title":{"rendered":"Bledisloe Cup beckons O’Connor as refreshed Wallabies name squad"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

James O\u2019Connor\u2019s introductions at new club Leicester<\/a> Tigers will have to wait, with the 35-year-old playmaker again recruited by the Wallabies for the final two rounds of the Rugby Championship.<\/p>\n

The team will compete for the Bledisloe Cup in two Tests hosted by the cities of Auckland<\/a> and Perth. The Wallabies must win both Tests to win back the esteemed Cup, which they last held in 2002.<\/p>\n

Good news comes in the form of Nick Frost<\/a> (back) and Len Ikitau<\/a> (knee), who are both fit and available for selection. Allan Alaalatoa<\/a> is in line for a return, while fellow veteran Jake Gordon<\/a> is also back on deck, with Nic White<\/a> now officially retired from Test rugby.<\/p>\n

O\u2019Connor\u2019s inclusion, alongside fellow playmakers Tane Edmed<\/a> and Tom Lynagh<\/a>, means there is no room for Ben Donaldson. Donaldson joins Pete Samu<\/a> and Josh Flook<\/a> as omissions who will return to their respective clubs ahead of the weekend\u2019s Super Rugby AUS games.<\/p>\n

History beckons for veteran prop James Slipper<\/a>, who sits just one Test shy of 150 Wallabies appearances. Only Wales\u2019 Alun-Wyn Jones and New Zealand\u2019s Sam Whitelock<\/a> have ever achieved the monumental milestone.<\/p>\n

\u201cAfter an intense period, from the British and Irish Lions<\/a> Series, playing in South Africa<\/a> and then here in Australia<\/a> against Los Pumas, it\u2019s been ideal for players to take a breath before heading to Auckland for the fifth match in the Rugby Championship,\u201d said Wallabies coach Joe Schmidt.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe know that the Championship has been incredibly competitive and that we will need to be better than we were last time out to have any chance against a fired-up All Blacks<\/a> side.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Head-to-Head <\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Last 5 Meetings<\/p>\n

Average Points scored<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Wallabies squad for Bledisloe Cup (Wallaby number, first Australian Rugby club, Super Rugby Pacific club, Test caps)<\/p>\n

Forwards (19)<\/p>\n

Allan Alaalatoa (#896, West Harbour Juniors, ACT Brumbies, 83)
Angus Bell (#940, Hunters Hill Rugby Club, NSW Waratahs, 43)
Josh Canham (#987, Harlequin Junior Rugby Club, Queensland Reds, 1)
Nick Champion De Crespigny (#991, Canberra Grammar School, Western Force, 2)
Nick Frost (#953, Hornsby Lions, ACT Brumbies, 32)
Tom Hooper (#964, Bathurst Bulldogs, ACT Brumbies, 17)
Fraser McReight (#937, Albany Creek Brumbies, Queensland Reds, 33)
Josh Nasser (#979, Easts Rugby (Brisbane), Queensland Reds, 7)
Zane Nonggorr (#966, Gold Coast Eagles, Queensland Reds, 16)
Brandon Paenga-Amosa (#918, Southern Districts, Western Force, 24)
Billy Pollard (#958, Lindfield Junior Rugby Club, ACT Brumbies, 14)
Tom Robertson (#898, Dubbo Kangaroos, Western Force, 35)
Lukhan Salakaia-Loto (#914, Randwick, Queensland Reds, 42)
James Slipper (#843, Bond Pirates, ACT Brumbies, 149)
Carlo Tizzano (#982, University of Western Australia, Western Force, 10)
Taniela Tupou (#917, Brothers Rugby (Brisbane), NSW Waratahs, 63)
Rob Valetini (#929, Harlequin Junior Rugby Club, ACT Brumbies, 56)
Jeremy Williams (#973, Wahroonga Tigers, Western Force, 18)
Harry Wilson (#933, Gunnedah Red Devils, Queensland Reds, 29)<\/p>\n

Backs (15)<\/p>\n

Filipo Daugunu (#931, Wests Bulldogs, Queensland Reds, 13)
Tane Edmed (#990, West Harbour Juniors, NSW Waratahs, 3)
Jake Gordon (#925, Canterbury<\/a> Juniors, NSW Waratahs, 31)
Len Ikitau (#944, Tuggeranong Vikings, ACT Brumbies, 46)
Max Jorgensen (#984, Balmain Wolves, NSW Waratahs, 15)
Andrew Kellaway (#943, Hunters Hill Rugby Club, NSW Waratahs, 45)
Ryan Lonergan (uncapped, Tuggeranong Vikings, ACT Brumbies, 0)
Tom Lynagh (#977, University of Queensland, Queensland Reds, 7)
Tate McDermott (#936, Flinders Rugby Club, Queensland Reds, 49)
James O\u2019Connor (#832, St Joseph\u2019s College, Nudgee, Leicester (England), 68)
Hunter Paisami (#932, Harlequin Junior Rugby Club, Queensland Reds, 32)
Harry Potter (#989, Moorabbin Rams, Western Force, 5)
Hamish Stewart (#986, Toowoomba Bears, Western Force, 2)
Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii (#988, The Kings<\/a> School, NSW Waratahs, 12)
Corey Toole (#992, Wagga Waratahs, ACT Brumbies, 3)<\/p>\n

Unavailable for selection due to injury<\/p>\n

Charlie Cale
Langi Gleeson
Noah Lolesio
Dylan Pietsch
Tom Wright<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"James O\u2019Connor\u2019s introductions at new club Leicester Tigers will have to wait, with the 35-year-old playmaker again recruited…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":151421,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[567],"tags":[64,63,760,85],"class_list":["post-151420","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-rugby","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-rugby","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/151420","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=151420"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/151420\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/151421"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=151420"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=151420"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=151420"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}