Flyhalf ‘curse’ forces halves overhaul for French Test
Murray Wenzel |
Declan Meredith will be the Wallabies’ seventh different flyhalf in the last 17 Tests as the “curse of the 10 jersey” struck again ahead of the side’s clash with France.
The ACT Brumbies playmaker is the last flyhalf standing after starter Carter Gordon and his replacement Ben Donaldson both suffered calf injuries during and after Saturday’s two-point loss to Ireland in Sydney.
With Donaldson’s ailment – less serious than Gordon’s – not evident until Tuesday, it left coach Joe Schmidt scrambling for options.
He’ll blood the 27-year-old from Cairns earlier than planned and experiment with in-form fullback Jock Campbell in a relatively foreign role as flyhalf cover off the bench.
Tom Wright will instead start at fullback at Suncorp Stadium against the back-to-back Six Nations champions while utility back Filipo Daugunu and Nick Champion de Crespigny, in for the injured Tom Hooper, are the other changes.
As well as Donaldson and Gordon, Noah Lolesio, Tom Lynagh, James O’Connor and Tane Edmed took turns at flyhalf last season for the Wallabies.
A bruising 15-game 2025 campaign began with a tight 2-1 series loss to the Lions and historic win in South Africa but ended with the first four-Test winless tour of Europe since 1959 and 10 losses in total.
A loss on Saturday would make it their first six-game losing streak in 10 years.
“Yeah, of course it is,” Schmidt said when asked if the revolving door in the No.10 position was a concern.
“We’d love to have continuity there; it seems a curse of the 10 jersey and (our progress has) fluctuated as we’ve lost guys and replaced them.”
Schmidt contemplated calling in Lolesio to the Brisbane camp but felt the runway was too short and the former Brumbies flyhalf’s season playing second division in Japan had not prepared him well enough for a swift recall.
Meredith will have Brumbies teammate Ryan Lonergan alongside him at halfback, while he’s also played plenty of football with star pair Len Ikitau and Rob Valetini in Canberra.
Blessed with pace and agility to complement his game management, Meredith was brilliant early in the season for the Brumbies but had less impact as their forwards tired at the back-end of the season.
He was also hooked at halftime in the Brumbies’ blockbuster clash with the Crusaders to open their new Christchurch stadium after kicking two penalties dead in goal.
“It’s the million dollar question, a big ask to suddenly be thrust into it,” Schmidt said when asked how the rookie would handle it.
“We thought it’d be a three-week window to get a bit comfortable.
“Excited but also apprehensive about anyone coming in and having to run the game.”
Schmidt is hopeful Donaldson will be fit to face Italy in Perth next week but, with Bernard Foley and O’Connor both currently in the country, will assess this weekend if reinforcements are needed.
France, beaten by two points in Christchurch by the All Blacks last Saturday, have made eight changes and selected a pack full of Australian flavour.
Prop Moses Alo-Emile and lock Emmanuel Meafou both played football in Brisbane before their moves abroad while replacement Tom Staniforth, who started in his debut against the All Blacks, played for both the Waratahs and Brumbies before leaving for France in 2020.
Moved from flyhalf to fullback, Matthieu Jalibert (calf) will need to pass a fitness test on Friday to play.
WALLABIES (1-23): Angus Bell, Josh Nasser, Allan Alaalatoa, Josh Canham, Jeremy Williams, Rob Valetini, Fraser McReight, Harry Wilson, Ryan Lonergan, Declan Meredith, Dylan Pietsch, Len Ikitau, Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii, Max Jorgensen, Tom Wright. Bench: Brandon Paenga-Amosa, James Slipper, Taniela Tupou, Lachlan Shaw, Nick Champion de Crespigny, Tate McDermott, Jock Campbell, Filipo Daugunu.
FRANCE: Moses Alo-Emile, Peato Mauvaka, Demba Bamba, Florian Verhaeghe, Emmanuel Meafou, Lenni Nouchi, Oscar Jegou, Marko Gazzoti, Lucu Maxime, Romain Ntamack, Aaron Grandidier-Nkanang, Yoram Moefana, Fabien Brau-Boirie, Theo Attissogbe, Matthieu Jalibert. Bench: Maxime Lamothe, Jefferson Poirot, Tevita Tatafu, Hugo Auradou, Tom Staniforth, Killian Tixeront, Nolann Le Garrec, Kalvin Gourgues.
AAP