Wallabies coach Joe Schmidt yesterday backed Nick Champion de Crespigny to be the team’s “roving scavenger” after handing him a shock debut in the opening Test against the British and Irish Lions Test in Brisbane.
Hard man Champion de Crespigny, who spent three seasons at French side Castres before moving to the Western Force this year, is to get his chance tomorrow with first-choice blindside flanker Rob Valetini not fully fit.
His elevation is an eye-opener, preferred to Tom Hooper, but Schmidt said he had no doubt about his abilities.
Photo: AP
“I keep an eye on the Top 14 having coached there many years ago,” Schmidt said. “Obviously Nick was playing for Castres and they’d been a high-performing team, and so when he decided to come back he was immediately on the radar.”
“The good thing with Nick, he’s a good line-out option ... he is probably a bit more of a roving scavenger than Bobby V, who in the past has been a big ball-carrier for us, and so he’ll compliment Fraser [McReight] in that respect.”
He is to pack down with skipper Harry Wilson and McReight in the back row, tasked with dominating the breakdown.
A head knock to Dave Porecki against Fiji opened the door to Matt Faessler’s return as starting hooker, alongside veteran props Allan Alaalatoa and James Slipper.
Slipper joins George Smith as the only players to feature for the Wallabies in back-to-back Lions series in the professional era. With Will Skelton failing to shake off a calf injury, Jeremy Williams and Nick Frost retained their positions at lock.
Like Champion de Crespigny, Tom Lynagh has also leapt up the pecking order and is to start at fly-half, adding to his three caps, all as a substitute.
He is to wear the No. 10 shirt against the Lions 36 years after his World Cup-winning father Michael — a long-time Wallabies fly-half and trusty kicker — did the same on their 1989 visit.
Ben Donaldson was initially seen as favorite to be playmaker when Noah Lolesio was ruled out of the series after a nasty neck injury during Australia’s lacklustre 21-18 win over Fiji this month — the Wallabies’ only warm-up Test.
While he made the bench, there was no room for veteran James O’Connor, who started all three Tests at fly-half when Australia last hosted the tourists in 2013.
“I’m really excited for Tom,” Schmidt said. “You wouldn’t think that he’s necessarily designed to run a game and dictate what’s happening, but he does have a quiet confidence. He’s fitted in really well this week, he has given us the confidence and the players the confidence that he’s going to run the game really well for us.”
Jake Gordon is the preferred scrum-half while Len Ikitau partners dynamic Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii in the centers.
Max Jorgensen is on the left wing, Harry Potter on the right and Tom Wright at fullback.
“The whole squad has worked hard as a group to prepare for what’s going to be a massive challenge against an in-form Lions team,” Schmidt said. “With the short runway leading up to such a big Test match, we know we must adapt fast and improve quickly from the performance we had against Fiji recently.”
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