1. Kingbenjamin Swerling-Finaipepe

2. Kruger

3. Leota

4. Ross

5. Brial

6. Cleverley

7. Robinson

8. Langi

9. Grover

10. Mackay

11. Watters

12. Pritchard

13. Fittler

14. Farr-Jones

15. Charlie

16. Grenfell

17. Job

18. Langi

19. Fonua

20. Talaileva

21. Blank

22. Bird

23. Whitfield

Not our strongest team but not bad gutted that Jaques is still out hopefully we see him in the two final games and interesting that Taka has not been picked as I thought he has been excellent. Big test against the French who look like a proper team hopefully the boys can get it done.

After watching the game last night, I have to say I was very impressed with our props and locks. I was a little worried that our pack would be undersized, but the set piece went far better than I expected. That being said, three out of the four props in the 23 are now ageing, with James Slipper in his late 30s and both Taniela Tupou and Allan Alaalatoa in their early 30s. I also feel that to compete with the very best teams physically, we need more bulky locks like Lukhan Salakaia Loto and Will Skelton. My question is who in the development pipeline for these positions could we be seeing in the coming years post the 2027 Rugby World Cup. I know the Reds have Ross and Uys who look great and they have signed Kaiya Tafea long term. The Waratahs have Fonau and Langi, and then there is Leota and Kingbenjamin from abroad who are being integrated into the pathways system with the under 20s. I was just wondering, for those familiar with the junior systems, if there are any other standouts in these tight five positions we should be looking out for in the years to come, as Rugby Australia seems to be putting a heavy emphasis on improving these positions. Who from within Australia or abroad do people think, if developed properly, could become powerful assets for Australian rugby and the Wallabies?

I'm not sure if i'm alone in thinking this, but I love this comp.

I love that we can get behind the southern hemisphere in a meaningful way.

Not just cheering them on in spirt but in a comp that matters.

Absolutely hate the arrogance of the NH media and fans.

Up the Southern Hemisphere!

The Wallabies are hopeful Ryan Lonergan will be fit to face France after the Test scrumhalf - who has staked a claim to keep Australia's No.9 jersey - was sent for scans in the hours following a heartbreaking loss to Ireland.

Lonergan lasted just 34 minutes in Australia's Nations Championship opener in front of a sold-out crowd in Sydney on Saturday night.

The ACT Brumbies scrumhalf underwent a precautionary scan on his throat in the hours following the gut-wrenching 33-31 loss to Ireland, but Wallabies officials are hopeful Lonergan will not be sidelined.

Officials confirmed the 28-year-old would travel with the squad as the Wallabies turn their attention to a clash with France in Brisbane on Saturday night.

Lonergan may have only lasted 34 minutes against Ireland, but it was more than enough time to prove his worth in the Test arena during his first start for the Wallabies.

Lonergan capitalised on a moment of Max Jorgensen magic to score a try, while delivering crisp service before succumbing to a throat injury late in the first half which saw Tate McDermott see out the game at scrumhalf.

"It was great to see, Ryan Lonergan had his first start and copped a knock, but he is okay," Wallabies coach Joe Schmidt said.

The Wallabies will be left to rue what might have been after Ben Donaldson's last-gasp penalty goal attempt sailed wide of the posts.

Donaldson missed two difficult penalty attempts while flyhalf Carter Gordon - who combined well with Lonergan during the first half - missed two conversions as the Wallabies fell to a two-point defeat.

Lonergan could emerge as a saviour with the kicking tee, having finished the Super Rugby Pacific regular season as the competition's leading point scorer with 107 points.

The Brumbies star finished the season with a goal kicking percentage of 75 per cent - but he had been striking at a 90 per cent success rate from round eight onwards after a slow start to the year.

Donaldson's success rate throughout the Super Rugby season was 78.4 per cent, while Gordon was striking at 85.7 per cent.

It would be unfair to pin the result of what Ireland coach Andy Farrell called "one hell of a Test match" on the shoulders of either Donaldson or Gordon, but Lonergan will provide another goal-kicking option for the Wallabies.

"I backed 'Donno'. I know he's a good kicker and I loved how he stepped up in that moment. He wanted it, and that's what you want from your 10," Wallabies captain Harry Wilson said."

"I can live with him missing that because he wasn't scared at the moment and I'm sure down the future he'll step up and get that win for the Wallabies."

Schmidt concedes missed shots at goal "can be costly" - but the Wallabies were their own worst enemy at times.

"He's got those kicks in him, and they weren't there [on Saturday night]. We're going to keep backing those guys," Schmidt said.

"We missed a couple of kicks early in the game as well, that's the nature of it. When it's only a two-point ball game, they can be costly.

"The players got around 'Donno' straight away. They are very visible, but there are some other things - a couple of penalties we gave up or a couple of the missed opportunities we had - they are of a similar ilk.

"We have to get better at taking those opportunities."

Ireland got their noses in front with just two minutes left on the clock, with Thomas Clarkson scoring after Wallabies debutant - and Brumbies lock - Lachie Shaw was shown a yellow card.

"I know this will really frustrate him, the fact he got pinged for a skinny old hand on a ruck while he is defending," Schmidt said. "He'll learn from that."

You guys ready for a Tate and a Kalani duo act at Suncorp against the French if Ryan's outcome is bad? Maybe even a call up for Teddy Wilson or Werchon into the squad is on the cards.

Match Thread - Australia v Ireland | Nations Championship 2026 | Round 1

Venue: Allianz Stadium, Sydney | Weather: 12 C, Clear

Officials: Ben O'Keeffe, Karl Dickson, Andrea Piardi, Matteo Liperini (tmo), Glenn Newman (fpro)

Match Page: https://www.rugbybot.com/match/6295

Match Threads: https://www.rugbybot.com/mt

Time

UTC	Local	London	Paris	Perth	Sydney	Auckland	more
10:10	20:10	11:10	12:10	18:10	20:10	22:10	more tz

Lineups

Australia	Pos	Ireland
Angus Bell	1	Tom O'Toole
Josh Nasser	2	Dan Sheehan
Allan Alaalatoa	3	Tadhg Furlong
Josh Canham	4	Joe McCarthy
Jeremy Williams	5	James Ryan
Rob Valetini	6	Cian Prendergast
Fraser McReight	7	Josh van der Flier
Harry Wilson	8	Jack Conan
Ryan Lonergan	9	Jamison Gibson-Park
Carter Gordon	10	Sam Prendergast
Dylan Pietsch	11	Jamie Osborne
Len Ikitau	12	Stuart McCloskey
Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii	13	Garry Ringrose
Max Jorgensen	14	Robert Baloucoune
Jock Campbell	15	Hugo Keenan
Brandon Paenga-Amosa	16	Rónan Kelleher
James Slipper	17	Jeremy Loughman
Taniela Tupou	18	Tom Clarkson
Lachlan Shaw	19	Tadhg Beirne
Tom Hooper	20	Nick Timoney
Tate McDermott	21	Craig Casey
Ben Donaldson	22	Ciaran Frawley
Tom Wright	23	Bundee Aki
Joe Schmidt	Coach	Andy Farrell

RugbyBot

RugbyBot was made by /u/paimoe. PM or post in /r/RugbyBot for assistance.

Plenty of positives to take from this week's team. A lot of players stepped up in a major way. I do not expect many changes from this week's side, although there may be a few. I also reckon the bench split could look a little different. With that being said, here is my 23 to take on France at Suncorp next weekend.

1. Bell
2. Nasser
3. AAAA
4. Canham
5. Williams
6. Bobby V
7. McReight
8. Wilson

I would not change the starting pack that was picked against Ireland. I thought they did a great job and set a very stable platform for the backline. The set piece was also better than I expected, especially the lineout.

As for the backs, this would be my starting lineup.

1. Lonergan, if he is available. I believe he went off and failed a HIA, so he may have to sit out next week. If anyone knows more, let me know.
2. Gordon, if he is fit.
3. Pietsch
4. Len
5. Su
6. Jorgo
7. Campbell

Like the pack, I thought the backline performed really well and I do not think any changes are needed unless they are forced through injury.

I also thought Campbell was outstanding. For a guy who had not played a Test match for Australia since 2022, he looked like he had not missed a beat. He looked incredibly comfortable at the back and slotted straight into the side.

I also have to say that I did not really notice Tom Wright when he came on. Based on that, I actually think Tom Wright has a real fight on his hands to win back the starting number 15 jersey. What do people think about that?

How would everyone else select the starting 15? Would you make any changes?

Where I think things could look a little different is on the bench. Because of France's bigger bodies and physicality, I believe a six two split will be necessary. With that in mind, this is the bench I would go with.

1. BPA
2. Slipper
3. Tupou
4. Amatosero
5. Hooper
6. Cale
7. McDermott
8. Dono

I have replaced Shaw with Amatosero because he is a bigger body, and I think that will be important against France. This is also the kind of Test match where it would have been great to have Lukhan Salakaia Loto available. I would have had him starting and in the squad because I think his physicality, experience, and size will be sorely missed against France. That said, I think Amatosero is the closest alternative in terms of what Lukhan brings, and this could be a great opportunity for him to step up.

I also think Cale would be a great impact player. He brings speed, agility, lineout ability, and plenty of physicality with the ball in hand. If we do decide to go with a six two split, I think the backline changes pretty much pick themselves.

Overall, I am really looking forward to another weekend of Test match footy. If next weekend is even half as good as the games we saw last night, I will be more than happy. It will also be interesting to hear what everyone else thinks about the team, and hopefully Suncorp is another sell out.

Getting to watch Hong Kong playing Samoa, the cracker between Zimbabwe and Tonga and the rest of the teams that we will see next year but don't get to watch too often is good.

Agony, pure and utter agony watching Donno miss the kick and realising that it's 6 on the trot now for us and that it isn't going to be any easier next weekend, but in truth we were not far off and could've easily won that game. If we go into the doomer cycle of despair once more and ignore all our positives, then we really are lost. These are some of the positives I quickly identified in my head as I went over the game to feel a bit better about it all:

Our attack is really deadly, like really, really deadly, and we don't waste our chances often when we enter the 22, attack-wise. Our ability to reach the wide channels and forcing 2 or even 3 on 1s is wonderful.

Our defensive ability had ups and downs, but mostly ups??! For me, it's quite telling that all but one of the Irish scores were made from penalty kicks into the 22 rather than phase play. Our defence structure was actually pretty good, and we did manage to completely tank their execution rate and opportunity capitalisation, given how many times they actually had a chance to enter our 22 with possession off a lineout from a penalty kick. I think at the end, the total amount of 22 entries was like 19 to 8 or smth for the two teams after the game, which is an insane amount of defensive work and tackling for our guys to manage to keep it to a single score when the stats are that Irish dominant in the amount of chances they actually had versus what we got to play with. Under a ref with a less stringent breakdown interpretation than BOK's newfound baptism in the school of no turnovers ever, I think that stat of denying points per 22 entries would be even more a positive for us if that was the case.

Aerially, we were up to scratch and didn't have any glaring mistakes or weaknesses exposed, but we didn't really showcase any dominance either. We did lose the general kick battle to a certain extent, I felt, with the Irish getting great bounces of the ball and our players standing too shallow on their clearances, leading to multiple almost 50/22 scares. Loads to work on for sure, but it ain't bad, especially if the French go again with a no boxkick approach next week like they did today in Christchurch. Our own clearance work was bang average for the most part, and like 50% of our kick chases were any good - this would be one of the main areas I think they need to focus some of their efforts on in the next week and try to improve at.

Setpiece wise we're looking better and sharper than we've looked in forever. Our lineouts have gone from being a constant embarrassment at Test level and for most of our Super Clubs to something that is seemingly now a real strength for us - still would've really loved to see us attempt a maul try at one point in that game. Our scrum had real ascendancy over the Irish as well, and I reckon that will be one of the most important tools that we'll need to try to get the job done over the French next week. I'm loving the confidence our front rows are building and pray it continues developing positively.

Now heres my takes on the players and their respective performances:

AAA was insanely good at all aspects of being a starter tighthead prop and put in a large shift of work. Did great work bruising some pale Irish flesh out there.

Nasser muscled up beyond what I knew he was capable of, carried well and threw great lineout darts all night long.

Bell had a relatively silent game, carrying-wise by his own immense standards, but was solid in the scrum. Still prefers Slipps, starting with him coming on to try to ice the game for us, hard-carrying into tired players. Was still a rock at scrum time and seemed to have learnt a trick or two about the dark arts of that set piece in the cold northern hellpit of Ulster.

Williams was just amazing imo! Working all around the park, everywhere, and utterly showcasing his class. The fox-faced man really knows how to pinch himself a lineout almost as if he got himself into the chicken coop.

So, Canham... a lot was said in the lead-up to this week's game about his selection and the LSL omission in general. That he was too inexperienced at Test level, that he was too light and wouldn't be able to do the physical grunt work needed of a tighthead lock and how he and his lightweight locking partner would get dominated by the very established and thick locking pair of the Irish. Well... he proved everyone wrong, looked entirely comfortable at Test level and fixed the Wallabies' lineout woes to the point that it went from one of our biggest weaknesses heading into this game to one of utter strength. It's this ability we've gained at that setpiece and the general ascendancy over the Irish there that made not backing ourselves at lineout twice in the last ten minutes so fucking painful. Still, Canham makes me feel safe now every time I doubtlessly see his name on the team sheet, knowing we're in good hands, going forward into the rest of the year's tests.

Valetini, my fucking god, the man pulled out John Eales medallist form outta nowhere at a time we needed it more than ever. Completely shook off his lacklustre Super slump of a season, where he still somehow had the most individual carries across the entire league and was just out there murdering Irish lads for the seeming fun of it. More of that to come in the next games please and thank you!

Fraser, you were hard-countered by BOK and his newfound insane breakdown standards. Just a utterly quiet game by his standards unfortunately. Was it disappointing enough to warrant a Tizzano leapfrog in the hierarchy? I'm gonna say no unless he shies away at Suncorp as well, then yeah, let Tizzano showcase what he can do against the Italians.

Harry Wilson. Immense on the defensive front and making the most tackles of the entire team at 20. Average on the carrying front, which means a good job for him? As it's not actively terrible and negative gainline carrying. Unfortunately, Test rugby doesn't really allow him to pull out any of the nice little flyhalf bag of ball tricks he has, like what he can do for the Reds. Still, he was good in the air to my eyes, looking mobile and active. But still, the man fucked up big time for the first Donno kick where he made the mistake of indicating that they were going to take a shot before clarifying exactly where the FUCKING MARK WAS!!! Killed a great chance for us to build a lead in the last 10 minutes by forcing Donno to take an insanely hard kick. I don't hate the last kick of the game that Donno missed being given permission by Harry - it is what it is, and I want my team backing themselves with confidence, but that first pen was a massive fuckup, and I think that one will haunt them more than anything else because it's fucking elementary and we need to be better than that.

Lonergan, holy shit!, what a way to silence every single one of your doubters. Proved he deserved that starting gold 9 shirt over everyone else, even if Old Man Gordon was fit with that performance. Marshalled the attack brilliantly with the composure of a centurion-cap player and kicked with great execution, finding lovely distance with each touch. Only thing I'd have wanted more from him was the kicking duties off of Gordon but that's on Joe. The man has in one 30-minute performance single-handedly become the joint most important player for our team in my head. His injury really hurt us.

Gordon, very similar to Lonergan in that he had an immense game on both marshalling our backline into attack and on putting in some nice defensive shots. Great performance under a lot of scrutiny that is involved with being the Wallabies' 10, and a real cause for worry for me now that he left the field limping. Joe said it was a cramp and that they were being careful and safe with it, but I'm not convinced. The only thing that needs to change is that he shouldn't be the kicker if Longergan is on the field, but it is what it is.

Pietsch, utter gun as ever and real monster in contact. Please stay fit and keep delivering in that gold shirt.

Ikitau, solid and brilliant as ever, no notes, he just found the perfect time to return to his John Eales winning best. He, along with Bobby V, are victims of how their base standards are, but honestly, the man is a highlight of our team and is the grease that keeps that backline chugging along.

JAS, the good old 2022 Tom Wright dilemma of being Rocks and Diamonds. So much good work all round the park, the line breaks, the hard carries, the defensive rucking, etc., all undone by being too anxious and trying to force things instead of slowing down for a breath and recycling the ball. Honestly, he needs to trust the process of his support cleaning out over him and retaining the ball instead of constantly chancing the offload. I do think his high ceiling means we should still stick with him at 13 for all the investment we've given him, and he's really, really good when he wants to be and actually gets the ball given to work with *cough* *cough* *tahs*. Still a performance I think he'll be disappointed about in general though.

Jorgo, honestly, if not for the intercept try he made, I think I'd have rated Jorgo the lowest of all our backs for this game. Really just not up to his normal standard and making things harder than they need to be. The tahs infected him with their nonsense, and it's followed him to the Test stage. Please come back, 2025 Jorgo. We need that version of him. If it means him needing to ditch the mullet and embrace the buzz once more, then fucking do it, but honestly, just a bit meh in general; still retains a starting spot cause he's fucking Jorgo, but I really expected more from him. Maybe it’s the issue of his normal baseline being so freakish that when he has an average game, it reads as bad, idk.

Jock '4 years out of the saddle' Campbell, honestly great on attack, really shit on his backfield positioning that gave the Irish easy meters extra distance on their exits. If our lineouts weren't as dominant as they were, we'd have been under a lot more field position pressure from the Irish kicking, even more than what we already were, because of these mistakes. Still on attack, he was good, and I liked the choices he made when moving the ball around, on when to run it and when to engage in a kicking duel. I do think, however, if Wrighty shows something in training this week, maybe he should jump over Jock in the hierarchy for the France game? Still massively glad that Jock did get a score though, happy for him heaps and what a cool story for his return to test rugby from his exile at the Reds after a wonderful super season.

Those are the starters, and I can't really be assed to talk about the bench players, despite most of them being relatively solid and good performers, though lacking any real standouts other than the ever-great Tom Hooper. I will, however, talk about Tate, Donno and Shaw from the bench because I think they have the most to bring to the conversation.

Tate came on early after Ryan's throat? injury and honestly looked a bit undercooked the entire game. I hate to say it as one of his greatest fanboys, but yeah, my blonde rocket needs more time to readjust to this level of the game and how he's needed to direct the attack that he used to do so well. Him having to do like 5o mins? was a big ask, and I don't really think he delivered what we needed. Honestly, he often looked aimless and directionless in attack, doing double takes and second-guessing himself heaps. He really often blunted our attack doing this, and despite himself being his ever personal exceptional standard of a ball runner and carrier, his duties of marshalling the attack were lacking, and I wouldn't be surprised if Ryan is fit next week, that Tate doesn't get to do the big dance at home at Suncorp but rather that we see Kalani instead of him coming on from the bench. We know what Tate's standards are; he simply needs to return to them ASAP, or Ryan needs to be able to complete his required 50-60 minutes before letting Tate take the field. It hurts to say, but Tate ain't it right now. Still very funny to see him plough through 6 fresh-off-the-bench Irish big-bodied forwards from a tap to score one - classic Tate that I want to see more of, and the Wallabies need more of, we're looking to win these games.

Shaw, even though he got a Yellow for offside, BOK was for even his standards weirdly tough on us for ‘being’ offsides tonight, I thought the man had a good game for a test debutant and could end up proving to be another Tom Hooper in the making for us. Hope to see more of his positive energy and ability get expressed in the coming games of the season as he helps keep our newfound lineout excellence alive.

Donno will probably get the most shit for this one, but meh, he backed himself and came up short. I can't really hate a man for believing in himself. I take greater offence to Wilson's earlier fuckup, where he didn't confirm the mark's placement before indicating that the team was going to take a shot, than what I take with Donno actually missing the kick. He ran the attack wellish when Gordon went off, but definitely lacked that edge that Carter's carrying and threat had on a defence - he is clearly Carter's understudy to me right now, and I can't really see that pecking order changing any time soon, barring a longish injury to Gordon. But that’s the same kick he missed earlier in the year to lose the Fiji game for the Force, which ultimately cost them their chance at a playoff game. I think we must accept that Donno may not be the ‘Iceman’ clutch kicker we all may want him to be. He really needs to drill that angle constantly to iron it out cause its hurt him a few times now already.

TL;DR: So in essence, I do think we played well and have loads of positives and things to be happy about (The setpiece, attack and defence on some levels) despite the agonising nature of the loss. Plenty of players put up their hands and did well (Canham, Williams, Lonergan, etc.), and some others who were used to doing well did not (JAS, Jorgo, Tate, etc.).

To be a Wallabies supporter is an ever-continuing Sisyphean task full of pain and hurt. This weekend once more confirmed that to be a self-evident truth that we should've all internalised and come to understand by now as a foundational law of the world.

That said, I just purchased my ticket to the Suncorp game for next weekend, and I can't wait for the weekend to come around again!

GO THE FUCKING WALLABIES!!!!!

Hobbys should be fun, enjoy your team, they are good! and they put up a show for us!

The guy is obviously biased against us, what’s your thoughts of telling International Rugby we don’t want him any more?

Consider this thread a safe space for all our whinging about selection decisions.

My 3 sacrificial lambs:

Wilson doesn’t belong in our 23. He can’t get across the gain line and he made some bad decisions as a captain too. I know he can pull a rabbit out of a hat sometimes but I’d much rather a Hooper/McReight/Bobby back row.

Also felt like Campbell was caught out of position a too often in defence. Was good in attack but think Wright deserves the next crack at 15.

Shaw just didn’t seem test match ready.

Notbtrying to be inflammatory but since i was a boy I've never quite understood the box kick. Could be because I'm an aussie and wallabies fan and we don't execute them well ( i know thst). But i dont really get the point, kick 5-15m ahead and probably lose position. Even if you got it, isn’t that two or three phases? If you aren't confident to get that then why wouldn't you kick for possession?

Edit: thanks to everyone for so many insightful comments. I really appreciate that you took the time to explain. I can see much more logic behind it. I'm now going to watch the squidge video and some of the SA v England match to look with new eyes. I don't have stan so haven’t been able to watch much in the last few years besides tests.

We get it. You’re a ref who volunteers at their local club and thinks referees deserve more respect and you’re absolutely right.

However the level of refereeing in the professional game isn’t up to standard.

Thank you for your time with a plastic whistle but it isn’t a reputable reason why professionals who are paid more than surgeons aren’t reprimanded for their failures to the same level the players they officiate.

You may ask me “why don’t you give it a try?!”

It’s a terrible argument and easily rebutted by the fact you think our officials are doing a great job. They just aren’t.

The first round of international matches this weekend showcased some great rugby but it was almost overshadowed by terrible officiating.

The fans deserve better

Does anyone know why he came out of retirement?

A place to discuss this weekend's matches

about fucking time lol. cant imagine how annoying it wouldve been for pubs and what not to constantly go into and out of streams between games

A class act lost to Australia, go well tonight,