Three Wallabies selection battles to watch during Spring Tour

The November Nations Championship will be one of the biggest performance windows for players hoping to make the 2027 Rugby World Cup squads.

This goes for the Wallabies and all the other 23 nations alike, and although Wallabies coach Les Kiss has said it is not the be-all and end-all of selection, performances in November will definitely be remembered.

“This won’t be a definitive ‘yes or no, you’re in the World Cup picture’; it’s definitely putting more challenge and more edge on things as we go into these last four matches,” Kiss said at his press conference in Sydney before departing for the UK tour.

“Super Rugby Pacific will be the more informative thing about how we get there (the World Cup squad selection), but we know it’s important to actually show your wares and prove now.”

“That doesn’t just happen in the 80 minutes; that happens in other areas about preparation, and four weeks together gives us a great opportunity to see those things come into play.”

While many of the Wallabies cohort will naturally be starters for their Super Rugby Pacific team, no game is ever promised, and every opportunity to perform, as Kiss says, is an opportunity to push one’s case for a World Cup ticket.

While competition for spots is hot throughout the squad, some are born out of a lack of a standout in a certain position, while other contests are dictated by new blood clashing with established bodies; either way, it will make for intriguing viewing.

Here are the three positions that will be most hotly contested during the Wallabies’ four November Nations Championship Tests against England, Scotland, Wales, and a mystery fourth opponent.

Loosehead prop

Angus Bell has the no.1 jersey sewn up beyond any doubt, and while the most-capped Wallaby, James Slipper, is in Canberra and ready for a call-up, Kiss and his assistants are searching for a younger man to step in.

So far, this search has proved to be nigh impossible, as no one has shot the lights out in the past two years.

Queensland Reds prop Aidan Ross appears to be the latest casualty of the cause after missing selection for November after playing several Tests, including the two Bledisloe matches.

Now Kiss has turned to new Reds recruit Tom Lambert and has maintained faith in NSW Waratah Isaac Aedo Kailea to back up Bell.

Kiss likes Kailea for his ball running and abrasiveness in defence, but Kiss is abundantly aware that Kailea’s scrummaging has been poor, although that hasn’t stopped the coach from selecting him.

Lambert was undoubtedly the better scrummager during Super Rugby Pacific in the absence of Bell at the Waratahs in 2026, but his efforts in the recent two Australia-A matches left a little to be desired overall.

Lambert, who has Scottish connections, played for the Wallabies U20s and then spent time in Glasgow’s academy program before coming home to Australia in his bid for a Wallabies jersey.

He is a mobile player who has a good work rate and decent scrummaging prowess but who, at times, can become one-dimensional with the ball in hand.

Ideally, the Wallabies need a loosehead prop in the mould of Bell, who has enough power to scrummage with the best and who can make breaks in the loose, but ultimately, Kiss and Co will likely take just a really strong scrummager at present.

ACT Brumbies player Blake Schoupp is the shark lurking in the background, as he has been named on every ‘unavailable for selection’ list in 2026 due to a Lisfranc injury sustained before the Test season commenced.

Schoupp is the best scrummager of the Kailea, Lambert, Schoupp trio, but offers less with the ball in hand than arguably both of them.

This is the predicament Kiss and Wallabies scrum coach John Ulugia find themselves in less than a year out from the World Cup.

Kiss has said Kailea has been working hard behind the scenes whilst not playing many minutes at all in 2026 despite continued squad selection.

Lambert is in his first Kiss-led Wallabies squad, and he has everything to prove and nothing to lose.

If Lambert’s scrummaging comes to the fore and he can muscle up in the loose, he gives himself every chance to deputise Bell in the fourth and final game, as well as shoehorn himself firmly into World Cup selection deliberations.

If Kailea’s scrummaging can measure up to his work around the field, then the Wallabies could have a deadly one-two punch, with Kailea being a fleet-footed operator just like Bell.

Scrummaging is the main component; look for that, but Kiss loves his power game and will demand impact elsewhere from his looseheads. It’s probably why Ross got the chop, so that will sway Kiss’s vote as well.

Fullback

Tom Wright is now a 50-cap Test veteran, and you’d think his World Cup ticket is all but punched, but a very strong new challenger has emerged from relative obscurity.

James Ramm, previously a Waratah in his youth and most recently with the Northampton Saints in the English Premiership, has relocated to Perth and the Western Force in a bid for World Cup glory.

While many expected his Force teammates Dylan Pietsch or Zac Lomax to come into the squad, Kiss says Ramm has the attributes he’s after.

“Dylan is sitting right here in the selection frame for sure; we just wanted to get another no.15 in play,” Kiss said.

“Jock (Campbell) moving to Japan during this period not available; Mac Grealy, who we know enough about, we had Tom Banks (playing for Montpellier) we had a look at, and obviously James Ramm.”

At 191cm and 97kg, Ramm is just a nudge bigger than Wright and has been in stellar form for a couple of years now for the Saints, as well as most recently in the winter months for Northland in New Zealand’s NPC competition.

Both Wright and Ramm are genuine wing fullback options, which is a huge asset in a World Cup squad as tight as they are, only permitting 33 players at any one time.

Where Ramm poses the biggest threat to Wright’s hold on the no.15 jersey  is his consistency; Wright has been, at times, accurately criticised for being a rocks-and-diamonds player.

Before his ACL rupture midway through last year, Wright found his flow and was as consistent as you’d like whilst also having his game-breaking X-factor.

However, during his time back in the jersey, it has taken time to find that flow once again, and while he is definitely getting there, he has not reached his old heights yet.

To win a World Cup, the saying goes, you have to win seven matches: three pool matches, the round of sixteen, the quarter-final, the semi-final, and the big dance.

The Wallabies can get away with winning six and losing their pool match against the All Blacks, but this nonetheless means the Wallabies must be consistent, and they must have one of their crucial spine players at fullback always being rock solid.

Ramm is an exciting player who can do the flashy stuff but who also offers an element of calm, composure, and size; how this competition between him and Wright pushes the pair to improve their games will be fascinating.

There’s no doubt that Ramm will be given an opportunity, so when he does, he must show the leadership Wright now has whilst also proving he is good for a try or try assist or two a game like Tom is.

Wright is first pick; Ramm has an opportunity to shake the cage and demand more from himself and the rest of the backline.

Ramm is not a kid who is there to make up the numbers; he is a fully-fledged professional who is there to compete, play, and win.

Halfback

Ryan Lonergan has the starting no.9 jersey bagged… for now.

The strengths that he was chosen for- his kick, his pass, and pass selection all began to wane in accuracy during the most recent two Tests in the Bledisloe Cup, and it cost the Wallabies dearly.

Due to the merry-go-round at flyhalf, Kiss has actively divided up the game-driving responsibilities to his halfbacks, inside centres, and fullbacks, but during the August-September window it appeared to be the Ryan Lonergan show.

His ability to pick passes, kick accurately, and distribute quickly gave the Wallabies momentum they so desperately needed.

He was brilliant during the July Nations Championship as well, but he nonetheless seized his reins more firmly during the later months.

His dip in accuracy in October may just have come down to a question of load, often playing the majority of minutes in games in his true first full Test season.

The Wallabies will be desperate for Lonergan to rediscover his edge, or they risk walking away with a possible one win and three losses; that’s how important Lonergan’s game is for the Wallabies.

Now, there are two distinct reasons for focusing on Lonergan: first, he is head and shoulders the best at present, and second, there is a destabilising factor amongst the other halfbacks.

While Tate McDermott is the most experienced halfback by a country mile at Test level, his form has been average at best since he tore his hamstring midway through 2026.

It is a tough business to return from such a big injury, and it is taking McDermott a lot of time to get back on the horse.

The other two halfbacks are two-cap Kalani Thomas and young-gun Teddy Wilson.

Kiss has brought Thomas in to cover for McDermott as he is imminently expecting the birth of his first child, which he will be flying home to deliver with his wife.

This leaves a very inexperienced group of players in a crucial game-driving position for the Wallabies.

Wilson is uncapped, and both he and Thomas are effectively rookies.

Whilst Thomas has a strong all-round game and Wilson’s game is not far off, with a better running game, it’s just different gravy at Test-level.

Speed of the ball matters more; metreage on a kick can dictate whether a kick is a success or has disastrous consequences, and a strong running game can be the difference between gain-line ball and a stand-still.

Thomas has been solid without shooting the lights out in his limited opportunities, and Wilson has all the potential in the world but, realistically, is a very young man who is about to enter rugby on one of the world’s biggest stages.

Waratahs veteran Jake Gordon, Force’s powerhouse Henry Robertson, and, of course, returning Wallaby veteran Nick Phipps will all be hunting the gold jersey next year, and it must be said, in the way McDermott has failed to sew up the second spot behind Lonergan, they are all very possible candidates to deputise Ryan.

Lonergan must once again find his accurate edge, Thomas must prove he is more than a safe pair of hands, and Wilson has perhaps the most exciting opportunity of all: to see if he can translate his game that dominates club rugby and is easy on the eye in Super Rugby Pacific onto the Test stage.