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The three tough Wallaby selection calls that must be made ahead of Italy
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While it was another loss for the Wallabies, some tremendous individual performances prevented an even uglier scoreline in Brisbane.
Yes, believe it or not, that shellacking could’ve seen the 42-26 scoreline reach into the 50s for the French had it not been for the efforts of players like Fraser McReight, Brandon Paenga-Amosa, and Tom Wright.
These three were the clear standouts in a night the Wallabies would rather forget, with each contributing equally on either side of the ball in their earnest bids to even the odds.
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McReight gave the type of performance that has put him in the conversation for the best openside flanker in the world, and despite him securing two great pilfers, it was the other parts of his game that made his performance stand out.
Being the sole player chasing back for a kick, only to run it out from his own goal line, making 17/18 tackles, and carrying for 39 metres for two tries is a sensational haul.
A team high of 15 carries came from BPA, who, at hooker, had to play a massive 70 minutes after the starting rake Josh Nasser failed his concussion test.
BPA scrummaged well, threw to the lineout accurately, and contributed with a try of his own from a well-constructed maul.
Finally, Wright is seldom spoken of as a staunch defender, but at the weekend, his last-ditch efforts stuck, and they truly mattered.
Although he got a yellow card for not rolling away, it is a card you would rather take than a 5-pointer in most instances.
His two 50/22m kicks were excellent bits of vision, which exposed regular French fly-half Matthieu Jalibert in his capacity as fullback on the night.
Although Wright is still finding his sixth gear in speed and agility in attack and had a poor forward pass, which ended a promising bit of field position, he is slowly returning to his best.
While the three were the clear standouts, others like Jeremy Williams, Harry Wilson, Rob Valetini, Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii, and Ryan Lonergan were also exceptional.
This brings us to the players who have failed to add impact and rise to the challenge.
While he has been full of energy, endeavour, and work rate, Lachie Shaw has been badly exposed at the Test level, and it appears just to be a season too early for the young Brumby.
He is a brilliant bit of tall timber with a great mind for the game, but Test rugby is a couple of weight divisions up from club rugby, particularly for Super Rugby Pacific, and Shaw is not adding the impact he does weekly for the Brums.
Many will lament seeing Aussie-born locks Emmanuell Meafou and Tom Staniforth line up in blue instead of gold at the weekend, but if we are being honest, neither delivered anything the best Wallaby locks cannot.
However, the pair delivered more than Shaw, and this is not a knock on the budding lock; they are both much older and bigger, and he will get there.
Seeing as Tom Hooper has now been ruled out for the rest of the Nations Championship, Schmidt must turn to another debutant in Miles Amatosero.
While Shaw has a better work rate and defensive record in Super Rugby, Amatosero dwarves him in the bulk department as well as carrying meterage.
The Wallabies will need all the impact they can get to help prevent the continuation of the second-half fades. Amatosero will certainly add impetus and another running threat.
The next big selection call will come on the wings, while Max Jorgensen and Dylan Pietsch were, without question, the in-form wingers in Super Rugby Pacific, their inability to win balls in the air must be scrutinised.
It is impossible to ignore the complete failure of the Wallabies boxkick and constestable game to date.
Only Suaalii off the kick-offs has had continued success so far in 2026, and the Wallabies have refused to use the Noah Lolesio midfield chip that he deployed several times in 2024-25.
This brings Harry Potter and Corey Toole into the selection frame.
Potter had a very quiet 2026 club season, but there is no doubt that the high ball is one of his strongest attributes, and for the speedster Toole, it is a part of the game he really worked on in 2026.
While Schmidt will be reluctant to make sweeping changes while the merry-go-round in the no.10 jersey continues, he will nonetheless feel that Peitsch and Jorgensen have not nailed their briefs.
While Jorgensen snagged an intercept in Sydney and defended well against both Ireland and France, he has been quiet on attack generally.
Pietsch has been busy looking for work, but has perhaps been put in situations where express pace would have been better suited, as opposed to his power carry and abrasiveness.
While none of this is expressly the fault of these wingers, Schmidt will nonetheless be feeling that the Wallabies are missing a big trick by not even being in the contest in the air, a fact Italy will undoubtedly be aware of and look to expose in Perth.
Schmidt is caught between continuity for the sake of the team versus needing to promote players who he genuinely believes will be able to help in the Wallabies’ bid to win back territory and prevent them from attacking from their own half.
The final selection conundrum may surprise people, but it appears as though it will come in the no.7 jersey.
McReight was Herculean in Brisbane at the home of his beloved Queensland Reds, but the Test season is long, and he has played massive minutes in Super Rugby Pacific in 2026.
Much like Ireland, France, South Africa, and New Zealand, all resting in form and key players here and there, this is an opportunity to rest McReight.
It serves a purpose beyond rest; it gives Perth-born and raised Carlo Tizzano the necessary minutes in a fixture that means so much to the player of Italian descent.
While giving out caps for sentimental reasons is not a good way to go about selection, Schmidt must acknowledge that to build depth, you need to play the next cab off the rank regularly.
You could do a lot worse to have your second-best no.7 being Tizzano; his game has gone to another level over the past 18 months, and in order to continue to see him grow, you gotta give him minutes.
To play 30 minutes off the bench does little for Tizzano, and it also doesn’t give the Wallabies the team composition they need to be able to execute their gameplan.
Much like Jock Campbell and Wright, with Tizzano and McReight, it is becoming more and more likely that if you pick one in the starting XV, the other is perhaps not the best option to place on the bench.
They are all such specialists and unique players, and don’t necessarily play their best rugby, nor add their best impact off the bench.
Yes, rugby is a 23-man game, but a specialist no.7 and no.15 does not give you the cover needed when looking for impact or injury replacement.
However, unless Ben Donaldson is fit or Schmidt calls in an experienced flyhalf, all these other selection calls seem minor and will do little good for the side.
This is not a knock on any individual player, more so an acknowledgement of Schmidt’s own plan, where he has said he never intended for Declan Meredith to play minutes in July, but rather learn and grow in the environment ahead of August.
In Schmidt’s final game as Wallabies coach before he hands the keys over to Les Kiss, tough selection calls will need to be made in order to keep the wider squad trending upwards in form.
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