{"id":42910,"date":"2025-09-25T16:51:11","date_gmt":"2025-09-25T16:51:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/42910\/"},"modified":"2025-09-25T16:51:11","modified_gmt":"2025-09-25T16:51:11","slug":"james-slipper-to-make-wallabies-history-as-team-named-for-all-blacks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/42910\/","title":{"rendered":"James Slipper to make Wallabies history as team named for All Blacks"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

James Slipper will become the first Wallaby to play 150 Tests in Saturday\u2019s Bledisloe Cup clash at Eden Park. Only New Zealand\u2019s Sam Whitelock<\/a> and Wales\u2019 Alun Wyn Jones<\/a> have reached the milestone globally.<\/p>\n

The veteran will start in Auckland, joined by Billy Pollard<\/a> and Taniela Tupou<\/a> in the front row. Nick Frost<\/a> and Lukhan Salakaia-Loto<\/a> will run the lineout in the second row, with Tom Hooper<\/a>, Fraser McReight<\/a>, and Harry Wilson<\/a> rounding out the forward pack.<\/p>\n

Tate McDermott will make a rare appearance in the starting team alongside James O\u2019Connor<\/a> in the halves, feeding the in-form duo of Len Ikitau<\/a> and Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii<\/a> in the midfield.<\/p>\n

An injury to Andrew Kellaway<\/a> has made way for Max Jorgensen<\/a> to start at fullback, joining an electric back three of Corey Toole<\/a> and Harry Potter.<\/p>\n

A debut is on the cards for Ryan Lonergan<\/a>, who has been named on the bench alongside Tane Edmed<\/a> and Filipo Daugunu<\/a> in the backs. Brandon Paenga-Amosa<\/a>, Angus Bell<\/a> and Allan Alaalatoa<\/a> make up the reserve front row, with Jeremy Williams<\/a> and Carlo Tizzano<\/a> offering impact up front.<\/p>\n

Wallabies coach Joe Schmidt said: \u201cThe squad have worked away this week, fully aware of the challenge that awaits at Eden Park.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a fitting occasion for James Slipper<\/a> to reach the milestone of 150 test matches and for Tate McDermott<\/a> to represent the Wallabies for the 50th time.\u201d<\/p>\n

Wallabies team to play the All Blacks<\/a><\/p>\n

1 James Slipper (149 Tests) \u2013 #843; Bond Pirates
2. Billy Pollard (14 Tests) \u2013 #958; Lindfield Junior Rugby Club
3. Taniela Tupou (63 Tests) \u2013 #917; Brothers Rugby
4. Nick Frost (32 Tests) \u2013 #953; Hornsby Lions
5. Lukhan Salakaia-Loto (42 Tests) \u2013 #914; Randwick
6. Tom Hooper<\/a> (17 Tests) \u2013 #964; Bathurst Bulldogs
7. Fraser McReight<\/a> (33 Tests) \u2013 #937; Albany Creek Brumbies
8 Harry Wilson<\/a> (c) (29 Tests) \u2013 #933; Gunnedah Red Devils
9. Tate McDermott (49 Tests) \u2013 #936; Flinders Rugby Club
10. James O\u2019Connor (68 Tests) \u2013 #832, St Joseph\u2019s College, Nudgee
11. Corey Toole (3 Tests) \u2013 #992, Wagga Crows
12. Len Ikitau (46 Tests) \u2013 #944, Tuggeranong Vikings
13. Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii (12 Tests) \u2013 #988; The Kings<\/a> School
14. Harry Potter<\/a> (5 Tests) \u2013 #989, Moorabbin Rams
15. Max Jorgensen (15 Tests) \u2013 #984; Balmain Wolves<\/p>\n

Substitutes<\/p>\n

16. Brandon Paenga-Amosa<\/a> (24 Tests) \u2013 #918, Southern Districts
17. Angus Bell (43 Tests) \u2013 #940; Hunters Hill Rugby Club
18. Allan Alaalatoa (83 Tests) \u2013 #896; West Harbour Juniors
19. Jeremy Williams (18 Tests) \u2013 #973; Wahroonga Tigers
20. Carlo Tizzano (10 Tests) \u2013 #982; University of Western Australia
21. Ryan Lonergan* \u2013 uncapped; Tuggeranong Vikings
22. Tane Edmed (3 Tests) \u2013 #990; West Harbour Juniors
23. Filipo Daugunu (13 Tests) \u2013 #931, Wests Bulldogs<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"James Slipper will become the first Wallaby to play 150 Tests in Saturday\u2019s Bledisloe Cup clash at Eden…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":42911,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[42,43,40,38,41,39],"class_list":{"0":"post-42910","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-headlines","8":"tag-headlines","9":"tag-news","10":"tag-top-news","11":"tag-top-stories","12":"tag-topnews","13":"tag-topstories"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42910","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=42910"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42910\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/42911"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=42910"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=42910"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=42910"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}