Saturday\u2019s buffet of rugby served up a delicious treat for fans across the globe, but one alarming factor stood out that should rock Australians to the core.<\/p>\n
The sight of watching Australian-born-and-raised Tom Staniforth running out for France, with another Aussie-raised lock Emmanuel Meafou waiting in the wings to return, as well as Harry Hockings starring in Japan\u2019s win over Italy, should make Rugby Australia\u2019s stomachs squirm and its fans angry.<\/p>\n
The locking trio could quite legitimately be playing for the Wallabies but for the folly of Australian rugby\u2019s head honchos.<\/p>\n
Of the trio of foreign-based locks, only Meafou failed to play Super Rugby. The giant tighthead lock did spend time in Australia\u2019s wider squads, but none of the franchises were prepared to invest in the giant. Now, he\u2019s one of the most sought-after power locks.<\/p>\n
\u201cA 128kg ruck-hitting animal\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n
Staniforth and Hockings, however, came through the Australian U20s pathway and played Super Rugby. Hockings was always considered a rising generational talent but irked many, including some current Rugby Australia figures, when he decided to head to Japan during the covid pandemic. Now, he is one part of one of the best locking pairs in world rugby.<\/p>\n
Staniforth \u2013 the younger cousin of former Wallaby, Scott \u2013 spent years in Super Rugby, and while he was always a hard-working figure who played for the Brumbies and Waratahs, he has only really come of age in recent years. That\u2019s come after transforming his body from a lightweight 114kg hybrid forward to a 128kg ruck-hitting animal.<\/p>\n
That factor alone should concern RA figures because like Will Skelton, who was an unfit, though immensely talented, lock when he was with the Waratahs before transforming into a fit monster with Saracens, Staniforth has gone overseas and been turned into a giant.<\/p>\n
That isn\u2019t necessarily a surprise either, because locks generally are at their peak around 30\u2026 and Staniforth is 31. But the extraordinary factor in all of this is that RA weren\u2019t interested in picking up the phone and seeing if Staniforth was interested in playing for the Wallabies.<\/p>\n
Not last year when he was knocking on the door, nor after the Six Nations when he was included in France\u2019s squad but wasn\u2019t capped. While a return to Super Rugby would have been unnecessary \u2013 RA can\u2019t afford to lure home every Australian who has ventured overseas for opportunity and financial security \u2013 it shouldn\u2019t stop them from trying to cap them.<\/p>\n
Want more from Planet Rugby? Add us as\u00a0a preferred source on Google to your favourites list<\/a>\u00a0for world-class coverage you can trust.<\/p>\n Instead, RA included a couple of rising stars in their U20s World Championship squad. That\u2019s all well and good, but will they return on a pittance? Plus, they have got years of growth ahead of them. Staniforth, meanwhile, is at the peak of his powers \u2013 and it showed on Saturday, as he got through ample work on debut against the All Blacks on both sides of the ball.<\/p>\n While the Wallabies\u2019 starting locks Josh Canham and Jeremy Williams were excellent against Ireland, tournaments are won because of a squad\u2019s depth and the ability to play the game in different ways. For a nation currently ranked eighth in the world, to look past a couple of locks over the past 12 months seems like gross negligence.<\/p>\n Australia v Ireland: Five takeaways as \u2018relieved\u2019 Irish overcome \u2018four areas of concern\u2019 to pip \u2018encouraging Wallaby remedial work\u2019<\/a><\/p>\n Wallabies blew Ireland Test<\/p>\n Joe Schmidt will have tossed and turned more than most nights on Saturday because he will have recognised that the Wallabies blew it against Ireland. Leading 24-12 deep in the first-half, the Wallabies could have put the Test to bed if Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii had pinned the ears back like Israel Folau once did and scored.<\/p>\n Instead, the $1.6million-man was tackled by the brave Hugo Keenan, and Ireland<\/a> lived to fight another day. It proved to be a match-defining play as Ireland scored soon after, as they caught the Wallabies napping on the stroke of half-time and ran 80 metres to score.<\/p>\n The two plays proved to be sliding doors moments for the Wallabies. But beyond the individual moments, Schmidt will have known Ireland \u2013 in part because of the Wallabies\u2019 pressure in defence and at the set-piece \u2013 were far from their best.<\/p>\n The Irish, who were missing a handful of regular starters, lost four lineouts, were belted late at the scrum, were cut to pieces in the midfield and struggled in general phase play<\/a> other than the try to play off Jamison Gibson-Park.<\/p>\n The Wallabies, meanwhile, were close to full strength, with only Skelton injured, and they still bottled the Test. It was a huge miss despite an excellent first half-hour.<\/p>\n Wallabies player ratings: Bomb Squad \u2018explosion\u2019 floors Ireland as Joe Schmidt\u2019s 2025 snub falls short in the \u2018clutch\u2019 and gamble \u2018backfires\u2019<\/a><\/p>\n The other two minutes that killed the Wallabies<\/p>\n After a 2025 campaign defined by second-half fadeouts, Schmidt will highlight two wasteful minutes just after the 60-minute mark that hurt the Wallabies\u2019 hopes of knocking over the world No.3 Irish.<\/p>\n While the try on the stroke of half-time to Gibson-Park and Ben Donaldson\u2019s two late penalty misses proved match-defining moments, earlier, from the 61st to the 63rd minute, the Wallabies spurned possession on three occasions in quick succession inside Ireland\u2019s half.<\/p>\n First, Max Jorgensen threw a ball into touch when the Wallabies<\/a> had an overlap; then Suaalii once again gifted away possession when they had the Irish defensive line at sixes and sevens; and, lastly, Jorgensen backed himself down the touchline after Jock Campbell put him into space but was tackled into touch.<\/p>\n The three blunders were hugely significant in the context of the Test because the Wallabies struggled for possession and territory in the second half. Those factors would have been playing on Harry Wilson\u2019s mind when the captain backed Donaldson to tick the scoreboard over later in the half.<\/p>\n Nations Championship: The staggering pay disparity in international rugby as \u2018floor drops away\u2019 south of the equator<\/a><\/p>\n Rugby Australia must get involved to keep born-again Wallaby<\/p>\n Campbell might have starred in the No.15 jersey for the Wallabies on Saturday in his first Test in almost four years, but the full-back is at risk of leaving the Queensland Reds in a World Cup year. Having been overlooked during the past three international years, the 31-year-old thought his days in gold were over and has long been sniffing an overseas opportunity.<\/p>\n At the same time, the Reds have long been considering what\u2019s next beyond Campbell and view NRL-target Treyvon Pritchard as a permanent replacement for him in the No.15 jersey. The Reds also only have so much in their salary cap to play with and, as such, have offered Campbell a modest deal to stay.<\/p>\n The full-back\u2019s value will have only increased on the overseas market following his strong display against Ireland \u2013 his pick-up off his bootlaces ahead of Dylan Pietsch\u2019s opening try was class \u2013 and that will stretch the Reds even further.<\/p>\n While many believe Tom Wright will quickly be back in the No.15 jersey after his slow-ish return from last year\u2019s ACL injury, surely RA must offer Campbell a national top-up given his brilliant season. It would be madness to lose the Wallabies\u2019 current starting full-back over a bit of short change.<\/p>\n Who\u2019s hot and who\u2019s not: \u2018Positive first step\u2019 for Dave Rennie, Fiji\u2019s \u2018astronomical number\u2019 stat and why Steve Borthwick should finally \u2018grow a pair\u2019<\/a><\/p>\n Schmidt must get bench right to finish tenure on high<\/p>\n Ahead of the Ireland Test, many suggested the Wallabies\u2019 bench had been stacked as a means to finish the game stronger after some serious fade-outs in late 2026. But, in reality, it was unbalanced.<\/p>\n