Following the announcement of the Wallabies squad for the Northern Hemisphere leg of the Nations Championship, here are our winners and losers.
Les Kiss has stuck with mostly the same squad that faced off against Japan, Argentina and South Africa but fell to back-to-back defeats at the hands of the All Blacks.
However, the Wallabies have been bolstered by key players returning to fitness and from suspension. So without further ado, here are our winners and losers from Kiss’ selections.
Winners
Teddy Wilson
The son of World Cup-winning Wallabies flanker David Wilson, Teddy earns his maiden call-up to the Test squad and looks primed to follow in his father’s footsteps and don the gold jersey this November.
It’s a huge opportunity for Wilson to stamp his mark, with Kiss‘ scrum-half stocks hardly overflowing with options. Ryan Lonergan has distinguished himself as the go-to starter in the number nine jersey with Jake Gordon still sidelined through injury. Meanwhile, Tate McDermott’s impacts off the bench have had varied success, meaning his place is hardly cemented.
Kalani Thomas replaced McDermott on the bench for the second Bledisloe Cup Test match and wasn’t much better than the latter. So much so, in fact, that Thomas has been named on the bench for Australia A, who face off against the United States this weekend, whilst Wilson has remained in Australia to link up with the Wallabies squad.
While Lonergan has been the starting number nine in every Wallabies Test match so far this year, he hasn’t been all that consistent throughout. He did produce a masterclass against the Springboks but was far less influential in the defeats to the All Blacks.
After strong Super Rugby Pacific and AUS seasons, Wilson has richly deserved his call-up to the squad, and November provides a massive opportunity for him to shoot right up the pecking order.
Miles Amatosero
Back from injury and back in the Wallabies squad, Waratahs brawler Miles Amatosero earns a recall to the Test team despite his shaky disciplinary record.
Banned at the start of the season for punching clubmate Angus Scott-Young in a training session, he returned in time for the Super Rugby Pacific campaign and racked up 13 appearances for the ‘Tahs, impressing Joe Schmidt enough to ignore his indiscipline in order to get his 120kg, 2.03m frame into the Wallabies’ pack.
A Test debut against Italy followed with a second cap off the bench versus Japan, and Amatosero rewarded Schmidt and Kiss’ faith in him by clattering into the head of Brave Blossoms’ captain Warner Dearns, earning himself a red card and a three-match suspension.
The imposing lock is now back in the mix and has a shot at redemption in November, where he will hope he can put his frame to good use for the Wallabies instead of being a hindrance. He has all the raw capabilities and size to provide a Will Skelton-esque impact for Australia but he has to learn how to channel that power, size and physicality in the right way or he will continue to falter.
He will line up against the USA Eagles this weekend in what will be the first test of whether he can achieve that or not.
Tom Lambert
As mentioned above, Kiss has retained largely the same group of players throughout his short tenure in charge of the Wallabies, but he has swung the axe in the front-row with the uncapped Tom Lambert replacing Aidan Ross in the squad.
Like Wilson, Lambert has been rewarded for his strong performances for the NSW Waratahs in Super Rugby Pacific and more recently the Super Rugby AUS tournament.
Against South Africa, the Wallabies’ scrum weaknesses were brutally exposed, and whilst the All Blacks didn’t turn the screw in the same manner, the set-piece is certainly an area where the Wallabies can improve and need to, especially for their showdown with England while Scotland’s scrum is no walkover either.
Hunter Paisami
After missing the Bledisloe Cup Tests through suspension, Hunter Paisami immediately returns to the squad and rightly so. He got his tackle on Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu all wrong and was rightly banned, despite some of the complaints from Australia and New Zealand.
Paisami has quickly become a key figure in the Wallabies team under Kiss, combining superbly with Len Ikitau, which accommodated Joseph Suaalii’s shift to the wing. Kiss will be eager to redeploy the trio in that manner again this November.
Declan Meredith
The battle for the Wallabies’ 10 jersey is taking shape, and after his showings in the second Bledisloe Cup Test match, Declan Meredith has emerged as a true contender. Australia were completely outclassed in the first half of the defeat in Sydney, but much of the team’s best moments throughout the 80 minutes came through Meredith.
Kiss could have easily omitted the Brumbies ace following the return of Carter Gordon to full fitness, with Ben Donaldson also included, but Meredith retains his spot and gets another chance to stake his claim.
Wallabies
Overall, this squad is far more imposing than the one named to face the All Blacks in the Bledisloe Cup, not only because star fly-half Carter is back in the mix with Amatosero offering more heft up front but also the returns of Taniela Tupou and Tom Hooper.
The Wallabies have few world-class players, particularly in the pack, but Hooper and Tupou are frankly among the best of the best that Australia have in their positions. Whilst they have featured regularly off the bench, they add immense value in the second half of matches.
Australia have shown that they can compete with the Springboks and All Blacks, the top two ranked teams in the world, but only for one half of rugby. To get a full 80-minute performance, they need as much depth as they can muster, and Tupou and Hooper certainly add that and some.
Wallabies squad: Les Kiss gets playmaker boost as son of World Cup winner earns maiden call-up
Losers
Unavailable players
Kiss is contending with a lengthy injury list that includes players who would add real value to the squad. Skelton is perhaps the biggest blow of the lot, having missed the entirety of the international season.
Skelton was immense last year, and his absence has been sorely missed, particularly on the gain-line, but so has the hard graft and experience of Matt Philip and Pete Samu.
Charlie Cale was also shaping up to have a real impact on the Wallaby Gold but continues to struggle to remain fit while Langi Gleeson also remains on the list despite not being selected all year.
As mentioned above, the Wallabies could really use the services of Jake Gordon at scrum-half too.
Kalani Thomas
Speaking of scrum-halves, Thomas has been included in the touring team but has clearly dropped down the pecking order after his cameo off the bench against the All Blacks.
Kiss opted to send him off to Nashville to represent Australia A whilst Wilson joins the main squad’s preparations back home. It may well just be a case of the Wallabies coaching staff wanting to get more hands-on time with Wilson but the signs aren’t great for Thomas.
Victims of the Bledisloe Cup blowout
The Wallabies team announcement did come with a caveat that additional players could be added to the squad following the Australia A match against the USA this weekend.
However, there looks to be victims of the underwhelming showings in the Bledisloe Cup already in the form of Nick Champion De Crespigny and Aidan Ross.
Both players have also been excluded from the Australia A team and have not been listed as unavailable for selection, while full-back Jock Campbell is arguably the unluckiest of the lot.
Tom Wright has dominated the full-back jersey for the Wallabies, and when Campbell was given a chance in July, he took it rather well. After touching down against Ireland, he was given a shot off the bench against France but has been selected since Kiss took over.
Angus Crichton
It was hoped that Angus Crichton could follow the same route in union as Suaalii did two years ago after signing with the Waratahs ahead of next season’s Super Rugby Pacific campaign.
However, the Sydney Roosters star is managing a foot injury in the club off-season which has ruled him out of the November internationals.
It’s a blow not only to Crichton but the Wallabies too, as Kiss and his staff would have surely loved to get a closer look at the 30-year-old with a short run-up to next year’s Rugby World Cup.
Nick Frost
Iced out for the majority of the 2026 international season, Nick Frost was called into the Bledisloe Cup squad as injury cover for Josh Canham. The Brumbies lock has been named in the Australia A squad, alongside Amatosero in the second-row, and could be one of the players that Kiss adds to his touring party before they depart.
However, it does seem unlikely considering that Amatosero, Canham, Hooper, Lachlan Shaw, Lukhan Salakaia-Loto and Jeremy Williams are already in the squad and cover the second-row positions.
So Frost may need to bide his time and wait until next year to reclaim his place in the Wallabies squad through his performances with the Brumbies. The 27-year-old hardly had the best Super Rugby campaign, but it’s still been a bizarre year for the lock who has consistently been one of the Wallabies’ best performers in the pack in recent years.
Williams is a nailed-on feature in the matchday 23 now, and rightly so, while Salakaia-Loto has finally twisted the selectors’ arms. Canham has gained much fanfare but is a penalty waiting to be blown up – much like Amatosero with cards. Shaw has shown great promise but is still very green. Surely, Frost could have added value throughout this year and might still.
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Tom Lynagh
It’s been a brutal year and a half for Queensland Reds fly-half Tom Lynagh, who was shaping up to be the Wallabies number 10 at the 2027 Rugby World Cup when he took on the position during the British and Irish Lions tour.
Since the third Test against the famous touring team, Lynagh has played just one more game for the Wallabies and made just a single appearance for the Reds in Super Rugby Pacific. He was set to feature for Australia A in the United States, but a knee injury has curtailed his return.
Experienced playmakers
Once again, Kiss has overlooked the experienced playmakers that have returned to Australian shores. The need to get the likes of James O’Connor, Bernard Foley and Kurtley Beale in the mix has been offset by the return to fitness of Donaldson and Gordon, but considering the injury profiles of the latter plus Lynagh, one has to wonder whether this is a huge mistake.
Australia will surely want an experienced playmaker running the show at fly-half come the 2027 World Cup, and time is limited to get a huge amount of caps under the belts of Gordon and co. Noah Lolesio continues to be overlooked whilst he is in Japan too, the man that Schmidt entrusted to run the show for much of his first year in charge.
Surely even getting a Foley, Beale or O’Connor into the squad to work closely with the less experienced pivots would be beneficial.
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