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Tackle-machine Carlo Tizzano set for Wallabies debut against Springboks

Carlo Tizzano poses during an Australia Wallabies Portrait Session on August 05, 2024 in Brisbane, Australia. (Photo by Matt Roberts/Getty Images for ARU)

Western Force flanker Carlo Tizzano will debut for the Wallabies on Saturday afternoon when they take on reigning world champions the Springboks at a sold-out Suncorp Stadium.

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Tizzano has already had quite the career. The Western Australia junior always wanted to play for the Force in Super Rugby, and after stints with the NSW Waratahs and Ealing in England’s Championship, the backrower got to fulfil that dream.

The now 24-year-old was calling from Turkey when he urged coach Simon Cron to “get me” on a contract, and the Force agreed. Tizzano has played 21 matches for the Force in the last two years and has started all of them at openside flanker.

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In 2024, Tizzano made the most tackles out of any player in Super Rugby Pacific with 240. That was 32 more tackles than second-ranked Blues flanker Dalton Papali’i, who qualified for the playoffs unlike Tizzano and the Western Force.

Tizzano was rewarded with a maiden call-up to the Wallabies squad for The Rugby Championship, and the loose forward will take that another step further by debuting at Test level. The Australian has been named to start at openside flanker against the Boks.

“There’s a mix of continuity and freshness in the squad and the players have worked with good enthusiasm during the week, but we know there’s still plenty to work on,” head coach Joe Schmidt said in a statement.

“We’re conscious of the size of the challenge and the size of our opponents but there’s a keenness in the player group to take a step forward.”

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Tizzano joins ACT Brumbies enforcer Rob Valetini and Queenslander Harry Wilson in a formidable backrow trio.

Nick Frost will link up with 32-Test veteran Lukhan Salakaia-Loto in the second row. Isaac Kailea, Matt Faessler and captain Allan Alaalatoa will look to match it with the Springboks up front, as they make up the rest of the starting pack.

Head-to-Head

Last 5 Meetings

Wins
1
Draws
0
Wins
4
Average Points scored
13
29
First try wins
80%
Home team wins
40%

NSW Waratahs skipper Jake Gordon partners Noah Lolesio in the halves, while Hunter Paisami and Len Ikitau will join forces in the midfield again after starting together in last month’s 40-29 win over Georgia in Sydney.

Try-scoring machine Filipo Daugunu, Andrew Kellaway and Tom Wright make up an unchanged outside backs combination which has mostly worked wonders so far.

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Josh Nasser and James Slipper are among the forwards on the bench, as is potential debutant Luke Reimer who will wear the No. 20 jumper. Reds duo Tate McDermott and Tom Lynagh has also been named to come off the pine.

This match at Brisbane’s Suncorp Stadium is scheduled to get underway at 2:30 pm AEST on Saturday afternoon. Fans in Australia can watch the match on Stan Sport.

Wallabies team to take on Springboks

  1. Isaac Kailea (3 Tests) – Harlequin Junior Rugby Club
  2.  Matt Faessler (7 Tests) – USQ Saints
  3.  Allan Alaalatoa (c) (70 Tests) – West Harbour Juniors
  4. Nick Frost (16 Tests) – Hornsby Lions
  5. Lukhan Salakaia-Loto (32 Tests) – Randwick
  6. Rob Valetini (42 Tests) – Harlequin Junior Rugby Club
  7. Carlo Tizzano* – University of Western Australia
  8. Harry Wilson (13 Tests) – Gunnedah Red Devils
  9. Jake Gordon (22 Tests) – Canterbury Juniors
  10. Noah Lolesio (20 Tests) – Tuggeranong Vikings
  11. Filipo Daugunu (10 Tests) – Wests Bulldogs
  12. Hunter Paisami (27 Tests) – Harlequin Junior Rugby Club
  13. Len Ikitau (29 Tests) – Tuggeranong Vikings
  14. Andrew Kellaway (29 Tests) – Hunters Hill Rugby
  15. Tom Wright (28 Tests) – Clovelly Eagles
    Substitutes
    16. Josh Nasser (2 Tests) – Easts Tigers
    17. James Slipper (136 Tests) – Bond Pirates
    18. Zane Nonggorr (6 Tests) – Gold Coast Eagles
    19. Jeremy Williams (3 Tests) – Wahroonga Tigers
    20. Luke Reimer* – Lindfield Junior Rugby Club
    21. Tate McDermott (31 Tests) – Flinders Rugby Club
    22. Tom Lynagh (1 Test) – University of Queensland
    23. Dylan Pietsch (1 Test) – Leeton Phantoms
    *denotes uncapped
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f
fl 21 minutes ago
Why Les Kiss and Stuart Lancaster can lead Australia to glory

“Pep didn’t win the ECL in 2009. It was 2008 with Barca”

Why are you so insistent on being wrong? Man United won in 2008 (beating Chelsea in the final). In 2009 Barcelona won, beating United.


“The gap between wins ignores the finals contested. 2 in 2 years with his City Triumph. The most recent put him in the elite company of managers to have won it with multiple clubs. Yet more late career success and history.”

Again - you’re not correct. City won the CL in 2023, and made the final in 2021. Those are the only two CL finals they have made. With Barcelona, Pep made the semi final four consecutive times - with City he’s managed only 3 in 8 years. This year they didn’t even make the round of 16.


To re-cap, you wrote that Pep “has gotten better with age. By every measure.” There are some measures that support what you’re saying, but the vast majority of the measures that you have highlighted actually show the opposite.


I am aware Les Kiss has achieved great things in his career, but I don’t care what he did over ten years ago. Rugby was a different sport back then.


I think your take on Gatland is pretty silly. Gatland was without Edwards in the 2013 and 2017 Lions tours and managed to do alright. You’ve also not addressed Eddie Jones.


I agree wrt Schmidt. He would ideally be retained, but it wouldn’t work to have a remote head coach. He should definitely be hired as a consultant/analyst/selector though.


“Look at the talent that would be discarded in Schmidt and Kiss if your age Nazism was applied.”

lol u really need to chill out lad. Kiss and Schmidt would both be great members of the coaching set up in 2025, but it would be ridiculous to bank on either to retain the head coach role until 2031.

170 Go to comments
I
IkeaBoy 1 hour ago
Why Les Kiss and Stuart Lancaster can lead Australia to glory

Pep didn’t win the ECL in 2009. It was 2008 with Barca. The gap between wins ignores the finals contested. 2 in 2 years with his City Triumph. The most recent put him in the elite company of managers to have won it with multiple clubs. Yet more late career success and history.


His time with City - a lower win ratio compared to Bayern Munich as you say - includes a 100 PT season. A feat that will likely never be surpassed. I appreciate you don’t follow soccer too closely but even casual fans refer to the sport in ‘pre and post Pep’ terms and all because of what he has achieved and is continuing to achieve, late career. There is a reason that even U10’s play out from the back now at every level of the game. That’s also a fairly recent development.


How refreshing to return to rugby on a rugby forum.


Ireland won a long over due slam in 2009. The last embers of a golden generation was kicked on by a handful of young new players and a new senior coach. Kiss was brought in as defence coach and was the reason they won it. They’d the best defence in the game at the time. He all but invented the choke tackle. Fittingly they backed it up in the next world cup in their 2011 pool match against… Australia. The instantly iconic image of Will Genia getting rag-dolled by Stephen Ferris.


His career since has even included director of rugby positions. He would have an extremely good idea of where the game is at and where it is going in addition to governance experience and dealings. Not least in Oz were many of the players will have come via or across Rugby League pathways.


Gatland isn’t a valid coach to compare too. He only ever over-achieved and was barely schools level without Shaun Edwards at club or test level. His return to Wales simply exposed his limitations and a chaotic union. It wasn’t age.


Schmidt is open to staying involved in a remote capacity which I think deserves more attention. It would be a brain drain to lose him. He stepped in to coach the ABs in the first 2022 test against Ireland when Foster was laid out with Covid. They mullered Ireland 42-19. He was still heavily involved in the RWC 2023 quarter final. Same story.


Look at the talent that would be discarded in Schmidt and Kiss if your age Nazism was applied.

170 Go to comments
f
fl 2 hours ago
Why Les Kiss and Stuart Lancaster can lead Australia to glory

“He won a ECL and a domestic treble at the beginning of his career.”

He won 2 ECLs at the beginning of his career (2009, 2011). Since then he’s won 1 in 15 years.


“He then won 3 leagues on the bounce later in his career”

He won 3 leagues on the bounce at the start of his career too - (2009, 2010, 2011).


If we’re judging him by champions league wins, he peaked in his late 30s, early 40s. If we’re judging him by domestic titles he’s stayed pretty consistent over his career. If we’re judging him by overall win rate he peaked at Bayern, and was better at Barcelona than at City. So no, he hasn’t gotten better by every measure.


“You mentioned coaches were older around the mid-2010’s compared to the mid-2000’s. Robson was well above the average age you’ve given for those periods even in the 90’s when in his pomp.”

Robson was 63-64 when he was at Barcelona, so he wasn’t very old. But yeah, he was slightly above the average age of 60 I gave for the top 4 premier league coaches in 2015, and quite a bit above the averages for 2005 and 2025.


“Also, comparing coaches - and their experiences, achievements - at different ages is unstable. It’s not a valid way to compare and tends to torpedo your own logic when you do compare them on equal terms. I can see why you don’t like doing it.”

Well my logic certainly hasn’t been torpedoed. Currently the most successful premier league coaches right now are younger than they were ten years ago. You can throw all the nuance at it that you want, but that fact won’t change. It’s not even clear what comparing managers “on equal terms” would even mean, or why it would be relevant to anything I’ve said.


“You still haven’t answered why Kiss could be a risker appointment?”

Because I’ve been talking to you about football managers. If you want to change the subject then great - I care a lot more about rugby than I do football.

But wrt Kiss, I don’t agree that 25 years experience is actually that useful, given what a different sport rugby was 25 years ago. Obviously in theory more experience can never be a bad thing, but I think 10 years of coaching experience is actually more than enough these days. Erasmus had been a coach for 13 years when he got the SA top job. Andy Farrell had been a coach for 9 when he got the Ireland job. I don’t think anyone would say that either of them were lacking in experience.


Now - what about coaches who do have 25+ years experience? The clearest example of that would be Eddie Jones, who started coaching 31 years ago. He did pretty well everywhere he worked until around 2021 (when he was 61), when results with England hit a sharp decline. He similarly oversaw a terrible run with Australia, and currently isn’t doing a great job with Japan.

Another example is Warren Gatland, who also started coaching full-time 31 years ago, after 5 years as a player-coach. Gatland did pretty well everywhere he went until 2020 (when he was 56), when he did a relatively poor job with the Chiefs, before doing a pretty poor job with the Lions, and then overseeing a genuine disaster with Wales. There are very few other examples, as most coaches retire or step back into lesser roles when they enter their 60s. Mick Byrne actually has 34 years experience in coaching (but only 23 years coaching in rugby) and at 66 he’s the oldest coach of a top 10 side, and he’s actually doing really well. He goes to show that you can continue to be a good coach well into your 60s, but he seems like an outlier.


So the point is - right now, Les Kiss looks like a pretty reliable option, but 5 years ago so did Eddie Jones and Warren Gatland before they went on to prove that coaches often decline as they get older. If Australia want Kiss as a short term appointment to take over after Schmidt leaves in the summer, I don’t think that would be a terrible idea - but NB wanted Kiss as a long term appointment starting in 2027! That’s a massive risk, given the chance that his aptitude will begin to decline.


Its kind of analagous to how players decline. We know (for example) that a fly-half can still be world class at 38, but we also know that most fly-halves peak in their mid-to-late 20s, so it is generally considered a risk to build your game plan around someone much older than that.

170 Go to comments
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AlanCriner 2 hours ago
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AlanCriner 2 hours ago
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I initially wanted to keep this experience private, but I realized that there may be others out there who have suffered similar losses. If you're a victim of crypto theft, I urge you to reach out to Morphohack Cyber Service. They can be contacted through their website or email. (Morphohack@cyberservices . com, Info@morphohackcyber . com) Don't give up hope, there is a way to recover your stolen crypto assets.

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