‘Lack of polish we expected’: Ex-Wallabies duo on Gordon’s return

Former Wallabies James Slipper and Morgan Turinui have praised code-hopper Carter Gordon’s return to the international arena, after the fly-half starred in last weekend’s 26-19 Quilter Nations Series defeat to Italy.

Gordon hadn’t played for the Wallabies since the 2023 Rugby World Cup in France, having made the move to the NRL with the Gold Coast Titans after last year’s Super Rugby Pacific campaign with the Melbourne Rebels.

Following reports from numerous media outlets, Rugby Australia and the Queensland Rugby Union confirmed last month that Gordon had put pen to paper on a long-term deal beyond the next World Cup, through until the end of 2028.

The 24-year-old was selected in Joe Schmidt’s Wallabies squad for the Spring Tour, but missed the Tests against Japan and England. Gordon’s return came against the Azzurri, linking up with Jake Gordon in a new-look halves pairing.

“The way he played in the first half, yeah there were a few errors and they targeted him a bit but his confidence to use the ball, and he broke the line a couple of times,” Slipper said on Stan Sport’s Between Two Posts.

“I just thought he added a lot of confidence to the backline. The key for him is to do it again and the boys around him to adapt to his play.”

Gordon made an impressive break up the field in the 15^th minute, ran for a team-high 54 metres during a 54-minute shift, and scored a try during the second term. It was a promising performance that was somewhat marred by an injury concern post-game.

Tane Edmed came on as a replacement after Gordon picked up what appeared to be a quad niggle, having pulled a bit sore after a clearance kick for touch. The playmaker reached for his quad before limping as medical staff rushed over.

Gordon explained post-game that he “should be all good to go” for this weekend’s clash with Ireland in Dublin, as the Wallabies look to snap their two-Test losing streak. As Turinui explained, Gordon was among the team’s best – giving the No. 10 one point in a 3-2-1 voting system.

“Just saw enough there, didn’t we? It’s the lack of polish we expected,” Turinui added.

“Very serious career-threatening injury on the back of not much, injury riddled preparation over two weeks, throw into play 10 in a crucial Test for your country.

“I thought there was enough positive there that it deserved one point.”

When Gordon was replaced, the Wallabies led by seven over their valiant opposition. But the match’s momentum swung drastically in Italy’s favour when Louis Lynagh scored, with Joseph-Auksuo Suaalii sitting down for 10 after being shown a yellow card.

Former Melbourne Rebels flyer Monty Ioane crossed for another try soon after, as the Azzurri took a 26-19 lead into the business end of the match. While the Wallabies had their chances, they failed to score – Italy holding on for another famous win over the Australians.

“The boys are going to be hurting after that so it’s important that we come together as a group,” Gordon said on Stan Sport post-game.

“We’re going back to the drawing board, work out what we did well, what we did wrong.

“We’ve got two big Test matches coming up and they’re super important for us so we need to come out two-from-two with those.”