They are the trio of Brumbies Len Ikitau, Blake Schoupp and Darcy Swain, as well as Waratahs Ned Hanigan and Dave Porecki, who all suffered head injuries. Brumbies full-back Pete Samu was ruled out due to an ankle injury sustained in the 43-28 win over Fijians Drua. The third row Langi Gleeson (Waratahs) suffers from a strained calf. “We are sorry for the players who have been left out, but it gives a chance to those who will now join the training camp,” said the former England manager, who took charge of the Wallabies in January when Dave Rennie was removed from his post. Eddie Jones had already led the Australian selection between 2001 and 2005.
The team, which has 33 players, will meet in the city of Gold Coast on Monday for a three-day training course to prepare for the Rugby Championship, which will begin in July, then the World Cup scheduled for this fall in France. To supplement the seven injured, Jones recalled Lachlan Swinton and Izaia Perese (Waratahs), while Rhys Van Nek and Rory Scott (Brumbies) were called up for the first time. That’s also the case for Queensland Reds duo Matt Faessler and Ryan Smith, as team-mate and third row Harry Wilson return to the squad after being dropped from the original squad.
Overseas-based stars like Quade Cooper, Bernard Foley and Marika Koroibete were not selected but will join the gathering via Zoom. “This training camp will set the tone before the Test-match campaign and we know that we will need to start well from the start,” Jones projected.