The good, the bad, and the questionable from the Wallabies’ first squad of 2026

The first Wallabies squad of 2026 has been one of bombshell omissions and radical inclusions, making for a very interesting start to the Test calendar.

The 37-man squad is a bit more swollen than many had anticipated, leaving a generous amount of room for less experienced picks and a wider net to be cast.

Earlier in June, a 40-strong group of Players Of National Interest (PONI) gathered in Sydney to train; only three players were excluded.

Coach Joe Schmidt has selected the squad, which is almost an even split of 20 forwards, 17 backs, and within this, three debutants.

The forwards are split into six props, three hookers, four second rowers, and seven back rowers.

The backs are split into three halfbacks, three flyhalves, four specialist centres, five wingers, and two specialist fullback options.

While some new men must be introduced to the Wallaby fan base, there are plenty of old bulls still running around, but perhaps the biggest headlines are about those who were omitted from the squad.

The Good

Schmidt has seemingly picked predominantly on form for the most part, and that has been welcomed by fans.

No one is more emblematic of this fact than Brumbies rookie lock, Lachlan Shaw. The 23-year-old has had a mammoth season for the Brums, and his extremely high work rate and attention to detail when he hits rucks are surely factors that would have appealed to Schmidt and his assistants.

Along with Shaw, Queensland Reds fullback Jock Campbell makes his return to the national set-up for the first time since 2022 under Dave Rennie, when he was part of a side that went within a whisker of beating France in Paris.

Campbell has added a yard of pace to his game, which is not common for older outside backs, and has sured up his abrasiveness in contact. 

Schmidt has praised Campbell’s rugby IQ and nous, as well as his incredible appetite for working around the backfield.

Elsewhere, Brumbies backrower Charlie Cale, although only playing half the season’s matches, had a sensational start to the season before perhaps being a casualty of the Brumbies’ team slump.

The form criteria has also been strongly felt in the selections for flyhalf, with Ben Donaldson and Carter Gordon being the clear standouts in the position throughout the year.

The third flyhalf, and one of the three potential debutants, is Declan Meredith from the Brums. He had a hot start to the season as well, and while his own form dipped with the side, he nonetheless showed a consistent and complete skill set throughout.

Italy-bound centre Josh Flook has been selected despite leaving the Reds for URC club Benetton, but his form has been unquestionable at No.13, a position which must be reliably stocked ahead of an intense Test window.

The final debutant is man-mountain Miles Amatosero from the NSW Waratahs.

His abrasive gameplay and ballast will be a huge asset for the side, but so will his heft and brawn at the set piece. His job will be to smash rucks, shunt scrums and mauls, as well as set the tone on the defensive line come July.

Team Form

Last 5 Games

57 - 10

26 - 42

31 - 33

48 - 33

46 - 19

40 - 21

20 - 36

31 - 33

43 - 21

27 - 17

1

Wins

4

1

Streak

1

26

Tries Scored

23

-13

Points Difference

31

3/5

First Try

2/5

3/5

First Points

2/5

3/5

Race To 10 Points

2/5

The bad

Although form appears to have been rewarded, the squad feels as though it lacks ready-made combinations that are at their peak and some experience in key areas.

Starting up front, the hooking stocks, all three hookers, although of a good age and plenty of club experience, only have a collective Test cap count of 56 caps between them.

Most capped is in-form Brandon Paenga-Amosa with 25, who looks like a clear frontrunner to start against Ireland on July 4 in Sydney.

This cap count, however, dwarves that of the hooking stocks, aside from Jeremy Williams with 25 caps, Josh Canham with two; there are two rookies with none, making for a total of 27 caps in total.

The Irish locks of Tadhg Bierne and James Ryan both have almost triple that many caps each, let alone the more than 150 they boast together.

It paints a stark picture when Schmidt has elected to leave so many experienced locks by the way side.

Although the halves cap count is better, Tate McDermott, with 50 caps, has more caps than all the other halfbacks and flyhalves put together.

The centres and the wingers sit in relatively well-experienced waters, and although Campbell at the back only has four caps to his name, he is a centurion at club level and knows what is required at the Test level.

The exclusion of 38-cap second-rower Nick Frost, 18-cap hooker Matt Faessler, and 78-capped flyhalf James O’Connor means that Schmidt has left some serious rugby brains and experience by the wayside.

The injuries to 37-cap halfback Jake Gordon and 37-cap second rower Will Skelton, as well as 38-cap prop Tom Roberston, have meant that a bunch of experience and game nous is stuck in the casualty ward for now.

While fielding a potentially youthful team against Ireland cannot be helped in some instances, it does nonetheless appear as though some players are going to be cast into the fire prematurely, and perhaps unnecessarily so.

The questionable

The Wallabies fan base has reacted strongly to the omission of Australia’s most experienced Test lock, Lukhan Salakaia-Loto.

The towering lock’s omission had been leaked by the Sydney Morning Herald during the week, but that didn’t appear to soften the blow for LSL fans when the team sheet was eventually officially released.

Salakia-Loto did his part to front-foot the omission that he was obviously aware of with an Instagram post featuring a well-known clip from the video game GTA: “Ah sh*t, here we go again.”

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by LUKHAN SALAKAIA-LOTO (@lukhan__)

It is the latest exclusion in a long line of omissions dating back to the British and Irish Lions series in 2025.

In 2024, Lukhan was trusted by Schmidt to be an impact enforcer off the bench, but he has fallen out of favour since.

Although Salakaia-Loto’s game indeed needed some work in 2024 and to an extent in 2025, there is no question that his bulk, experience, and appetite for big carries dominated the Lions in 2025 when Salakaia-Loto faced them a whopping three times.

He bounced, whacked, and mauled the Lions for the Reds, First Nations Pasifika, and the AUNZ side throughout the series last year.

Schmidt’s current concern is that LSL is not consistent enough in his performances.

“[He] had some really good moments in Super Rugby; it was just stringing consecutive moments together,” he said in Sydney on Friday.

“We’re looking for him to have a block to get into the best physical shape to contribute to the team.

“We need fast jumping locks. We know he’s got that speed, but isn’t quite where we’d like him to be at the moment.”

It is a bit of a head-scratcher with Schmidt trusting Skelton seemingly unequivocally, who never jumps in the lineout and who is hardly the most mobile forward you can field.

Salakaia-Loto, with his 45 caps, is the most experienced lock that has pulled on a Wallabies jersey since the Rugby World Cup, eight more times capped than Skelton and a few years younger.

This is a mind-boggling decision when considering that none of the locks have any sort of partnerships or time playing together, with Schmidt picking one lock from each provincial side.

Josh Canham and Lukhan were a ready-made partnership to go with a seemingly Reds-dominated spine for Test number one against Ireland.

This is a really big question mark as well, considering the Wallabies only had a lineout success rate of 68% last time they played Ireland in November of 2025.

In that encounter, Matt Faessler was the hooker, with Tom Hooper and Jeremy Williams being the locks.

Considering the inexperience in the second row, bar Faessler, this could be the second row that is wheeled out on July 4 in Sydney.

The lineout is of particular concern because Schmidt admits that the Wallabies’ strike rate in Ireland’s 22m-zone in their latest encounter was high before the lineout went awry.

If one hasn’t chosen combinations to avoid a repeat of those stats, then we could be looking at a similar situation.

The omission of Frost and 50-cap Matt Philip also raises some eyebrows here, as well as the exclusion of Darcy Swain, although the trio is not in the best form.

The proof will be in the pudding come gameday and in that first Wallabies lineout.

The wrap

It is, overall, a hugely exciting squad, full of in-form players, returning stalwarts, and excellent X-factor talent.

The group will take stock of the fact that they are one year more experienced, one year older, and knowing they have the talent to worry Ireland, as they did in the first 40-minutes in Dublin only eight months ago.

However, Schmidt’s tenure is coming to an end after July, and his legacy at the helm will be judged on these performances.

Should the Wallabies lose all three, there could be pitchforks ready for Schmidt surrounding the selections, but should the Wallabies win two out of three, there will be a recognition of growth and improvement, and a vindication.

It is perhaps a high bar to set, especially considering the Wallabies lost to all three of their July opponents in their final three matches of the Autumn Nations series only nine months ago, but that is what elite sport demands.

Ireland, France, and Italy are all known quantities to the Wallabies, and on home turf, the Wallabies must claim two scalps to truly prove they are a better side and in a better place than in 2024.