{"id":297112,"date":"2025-11-20T13:29:09","date_gmt":"2025-11-20T13:29:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/297112\/"},"modified":"2025-11-20T13:29:09","modified_gmt":"2025-11-20T13:29:09","slug":"winless-wallabies-change-5-for-france-with-rwc-dreams-on-the-line","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/297112\/","title":{"rendered":"Winless Wallabies change 5 for France with RWC dreams on the line"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Australia<\/a> head coach Joe Schmidt has made five changes to his Wallabies side for their final match of the year against France.<\/p>\n

Australia have lost all three matches in their Quilter Nations Series campaign so far, against England, Italy<\/a> and Ireland, which has seen them slip to seventh in the world rankings. However, a win by a margin of over 16 points at the Stade de France<\/a> would see them displace Fabien Galthie\u2019s side in the top six, and earn a Band 1 seeding for the 2027 World Cup draw next month.<\/p>\n

Though a formidable task, Schmidt has turned to some stalwarts of Australian rugby for the match, including a recall for Taniela Tupou<\/a>, who missed the loss to Ireland.<\/p>\n

Tupou is one of three changes to the pack, with Billy Pollard<\/a> starting at hooker in place of Matt Faessler<\/a>, and Nick Frost<\/a> starting in the second-row, bumping Tom Hooper<\/a> to the back-row and Rob Valetini<\/a> to the bench.<\/p>\n

The two changes in the back line see Carter Gordon<\/a> return to start at No.10, and Dylan Pietsch<\/a> start on the wing instead of Filipo Daugunu.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

France <\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Australia <\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve tried to freshen things up during the week after what\u2019s been a dense and challenging Tour so far,\u201d Schmidt said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe players have looked to prepare well and they\u2019re eager to finish their season with a positive performance against one of the world\u2019s best teams.\u201d<\/p>\n

Australia XV
1. Angus Bell<\/a> (49 Tests) \u2013 #940; Hunters Hill Rugby Club
2. Billy Pollard (20 Tests) \u2013 #958; Lindfield Junior Rugby
3. Taniela Tupou<\/a> (67 Tests) \u2013 #917; Brothers Rugby
4. Jeremy Williams<\/a> (24 Tests) \u2013 #973; Wahroonga Tigers
5. Nick Frost (37 Tests) \u2013 #953; Hornsby Lions
6. Tom Hooper (21 Tests) \u2013 #964; Bathurst Bulldogs
7. Fraser McReight<\/a> (38 Tests) \u2013 #937; Albany Creek Brumbies
8. Harry Wilson<\/a> (c) (35 Tests) \u2013 #933; Gunnedah Red Devils
9. Jake Gordon<\/a> (36 Tests) \u2013 #925; Canterbury<\/a> Juniors
10. Carter Gordon (9 Tests) \u2013 #967; Sunshine Coast Grammar School
11. Dylan Pietsch (8 Tests) \u2013 #978; Leeton Phantoms
12. Len Ikitau<\/a> (49 Tests) \u2013 #944; Tuggeranong Vikings
13. Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii<\/a> (17 Tests) \u2013 #988; The Kings<\/a> School
14. Harry Potter<\/a> (10 Tests) \u2013 #989; Moorabbin Rams
15. Max Jorgensen<\/a> (19 Tests) \u2013 #984; Balmain Wolves<\/p>\n

Replacements
16. Matt Faessler<\/a> (17 Tests) \u2013 #969; USQ Saints
17. Aidan Ross<\/a> (2 Tests) \u2013 #994; Bond University
18. Allan Alaalatoa<\/a> (87 Tests) \u2013 #896; West Harbour Juniors
19. Rob Valetini (61 Tests) \u2013 #929; Harlequin Rugby Club
20. Carlo Tizzano<\/a> (13 Tests) \u2013 #982; University of Western Australia
21. Kalani Thomas* \u2013 uncapped; Springfield Hawks
22. Tane Edmed<\/a> (8 Tests) \u2013 #990; West Harbour Juniors
23. Filipo Daugunu<\/a> (19 Tests) \u2013 #931; Wests Bulldogs<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Australia head coach Joe Schmidt has made five changes to his Wallabies side for their final match of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":297113,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[567],"tags":[64,63,760,85],"class_list":{"0":"post-297112","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-rugby","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-rugby","11":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/297112","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=297112"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/297112\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/297113"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=297112"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=297112"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=297112"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}