Evaluating the Wallabies’ Way to the France Rugby World Cup 2023

The 100-day threshold for the thrilling Rugby World Cup opening involving organisers France and three-time winners New Zealand fell on Wednesday, bringing the total number of days before the tournament’s start into the double digits. Rugby supporters can book France Rugby World Cup Tickets on our website at exclusively discounted prices.

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An opening game of this magnitude may not have occurred since 1995, when South Africa made their Rugby World Cup debut by defeating the All Blacks 27–18, marking the end of sports isolation. After the Sept. 8 kickoff, there will be a flurry of action involving other crucial group matches between England and Argentina, South Africa and Scotland, and on Monday, Wales and Fiji.

Australia’s Rugby World Cup campaign, though, gets underway against Georgia on September 9 in Paris. This matchup shouldn’t present too many challenges for the Wallabies, but it also serves as the perfect springboard for the rest of the competition.

Now that we are 100 days out, how are the Wallabies doing?

Tighthead Prop is suddenly Eddies’ biggest headache. Any experienced rugby fan is aware that, even though fly halves and wingers frequently receive accolades for their game-changing plays, no team can advance very far in a Rugby World Cup without a strong set-piece foundation. Have you ever had a lineout when it only won 75% of its ball? In the quarterfinals, prepare your suitcases.

Going backwards during the scrum? The only method to get paid for what you do in late October of this year is to find a tour bus and do some research on your glasses. Tighthead prop is the only position that matters more when there is a scrum. The scenario there for the Wallabies is getting worse as of the weekend.

Tighthead prop is currently the Wallabies’ most precarious position with Taniela Tupou still recovering from Achilles tendon surgical procedures, Tom Robertson out until 2023 due to an ACL tear, and now Brumbies skipper Allan Alaalatoa sidelined for a minimum of six weeks with a calf strain.

The front-row stability, taken as a whole, is terrible when you consider that Angus Bell, who is set to replace James Slipper at loosehead and add a tonne of energy off the bench, has also been injured for almost the entire Super Rugby Pacific season.

Not because Robertson was expected to start or even earn a spot among the substitutes in Paris, but rather because of his remarkable capacity to contribute on both sides of the scrum, the loss of Robertson is excruciating. Alaalatoa, Bell, and possibly Tupou could make a comeback at some point while playing in the Rugby Championship.

But it’s not ideal to have three of your top four props out with injuries just a few months before the France Rugby World Cup 2023. Thank goodness for the veteran workhorse Slipper, who may one day be seen donning the captain’s hat. Sam Talakai, Pone Fa’aumasili, and Harry Johnson-Holmes are all enjoying rising popularity at tighthead.

Is there any good news about injuries?

Rugby injuries are common, as they are in many sports. Therefore, although Jones may be bemoaning his front-row fate, several Rugby World Cup candidates have either come back to the field after lengthy stays in the recovery room or have returned to the pitch through Super Rugby Pacific following less significant difficulties.

While the Barbarians trounced the World XV at Twickenham on Sunday, Jones got a close-up view of Quade Cooper and Samu Kerevi. While Kerevi left the game after only 19 minutes due to a hamstring injury, Jones, the Baa-Baas coach, spent the week working with both players. Kerevi later clarified via Instagram that the problem was “a tiny blip on the way.”

Whether the pair starts together when they face the Springboks in Pretoria in Australia’s first Test of 2023 is still up in the realm of possibility, but given how well they worked together in 2021, it seems likely that this will be the pairing when the Wallabies travel to Paris.

Other players who have recently returned from extended absences include locks Matt Philip and Izack Rodda, as well as short-term replacement Hunter Paisami. Other players like Izaia Perese, Lalakai Foketi, Nic White, and Cadeyrn Neville will either play in Super Rugby this weekend or the playoffs a week from now. You can buy your Rugby World Cup Final Tickets.

Rob Leota’s ambitions of returning to Super Rugby following his own Achilles problem have sadly been shattered; the Rugby Championship is now his preferred competition. The 18-year-old’s Rugby World Cup ambition is on the verge of becoming a reality, but Max Jorgensen’s Super Rugby Pacific campaign has been cut short by a knee injury.

Is Australian unsuccess against All Blacks a matter of concern?

Before the start of Super Rugby Pacific, we posed that issue to Jones. The Wallabies coach initially downplayed its significance before reiterating that it would only affect player selections, not necessarily the hopes of the national side. In addition, this writer set a goal of 10 Australian trans-Tasman victories as a successful outcome.

It is something that would give people optimism that perhaps, just maybe, the Wallabies may be a better side than the 5-9 group that stumbled through 2022. Australia’s overall trans-Tasman record is 5/20 going into this weekend’s championship round, with just the Force’s matchup versus the Chiefs remaining in the regular campaign. While many others have been extremely close.

It is more telling that three of those victories came over the Highlanders of New Zealand, who are currently in last place. Nevertheless, Australia’s squads managed seven trans triumphs in 2022 and an additional victory in the playoffs, so it appears that 2023 marked a decline.

The Brumbies’ performance against the Chiefs, which pitted the top teams from Australia and New Zealand against one another over the weekend, was probably the most concerning.  Even though Jones, 63, had the distraction of leading Quade and company at Twickenham, the Wallabies’ 31-21 loss was an honest assessment of Stephen Larkham’s team and one that can’t have pleased him.

A significant portion of the Wallabies was anticipated to arrive from the ACT side, especially up front. The Brumbies, who were in a strong position to finish in the top two spots, are now expected to finish fourth, which would put them in a quarterfinal matchup with the Hurricanes, a rematch of their elimination match from the previous season.

A playoff victory in Canberra would be essential for the mentality of Australian rugby and for Jones to have any kind of momentum going into the Rugby Championship, given that no Australian team has ever won a game in New Zealand.

A few hopeful specific performances

In particular, Rebels playmaker Carter Gordon, whose performances have been so strong that they make him a strong candidate for Australian Super Rugby Performer of the Year, stands out. Additionally, the 22-year-old has demonstrated this in trans-Tasman matches against well-known fly-half opponents.

Gordon has played a smooth passing game and been willing to take the ball to the goal line, but he has also defended aggressively, routinely putting his body into challenges with a grit that is uncommon for No. 10s. Fraser McReight has put Michael Hooper under pressure with his great season for the Reds.

He leads all players in tackles made (187), he has the most pilfers (18), and he consistently ranks in his team’s top three players each week. With Rob Valetini, Pete Samu, and Harry Wilson already in the running for the No. 8 spot, Langi Gleeson of the Waratahs has been a standout.

On the other hand, Corey Toole of the Brumbies has given Jones something to think about on the wing, just as Suliasi Vunivalu finally seems to be running at full speed. Then there are last year’s standout players Nick Frost, Mark Nawaqanitawase, and Jed Holloway, whom each could sleep soundly knowing their names would be included in Jones’ France Rugby World Cup 2023 squad if he announced it tomorrow.

While Tom Wright and Andrew Kellaway have each had their moments at fullback this season, and Matt Faessler has made an effort to add his name to consideration at hooker, which remains an uncertain position in an increasingly difficult front row, fullback continues to be a conundrum.

The window of opportunity for fringe players to advance their causes is rapidly closing, but for anyone like Gordon, one final solid performance over the Brumbies on Friday might very well be sufficient to secure him a spot in the Rugby Championship. Anything is conceivable from there.

What about Giteau’s law now?

As of right now, Jones is only able to choose three players for the France Rugby World Cup 2023 who are not currently under contract with a Super Rugby Pacific side. In addition, they would have needed to have participated in at least 30 Test matches or contributed five years of dedication to Australian rugby.

However, anyone who has listened to Jones or Rugby Australia head Hamish McLennan might readily predict that by the time Jones picks his squad in mid-late August, the Foreign Player Selection Policy (Giteau Law) will have been expanded. Although a change is not right away imminent.

We have learned that Jones will probably address the board in the coming weeks to talk about his Rugby World Cup 2023 preparations and how Australia can gain from a modification of the Giteau Law. In a recent podcast, the coach confirmed as much, saying to The Evening Standard:

“We haven’t yet discussed that with the executive team, but I’m confident we’ll be able to get favourable feedback on obtaining more players. Because Toulouse’s Richie Arnold, a superb player in the Top 14, and Will Skelton, who is perhaps the best right-sided lock in the globe, are both available.”

“We cannot overlook potential like that displayed by Marika Koroibete, Samu Kerevi, and Quade Cooper. Australians, in my opinion, are always better off when they are the underdogs and everyone else believes they have no chance of success. They might sneak in unnoticed.”

It’s nearly impossible to understand the way five of those participants could be left out of the Wallabies’ team in light of those remarks, as well as the fact that Will Skelton (La Rochelle), Bernard Foley (Kubota Spears), and Marika Koroibete were all members of championship teams in Europe and Japan, respectively, and that Marika Koroibete is the current John Eales Medal winner and a part of World Rugby’s Team of the Year.

Skelton’s perceived status as a barrier during lineouts or Foley’s time-wasting disaster show from Bledisloe I last year may be brought up by some detractors, but doing so would be to ignore the fly-half’s assurance in front of goal and the reality that the towering second-rower got at No. 2 in La Rochelle’s Rugby Champions Cup victory.

But the fact that Rory Arnold’s Japanese team withdrew from their League Two tournament as a result of an off-field event in Beppu including the playing group dealt a serious blow to his prospects. When it pertains to player conduct, Japanese teams don’t play around. Richie Arnold’s brother was included in Jones’ April training group. You can buy your Rugby World Cup Semi Finals Tickets.

So, it seems the coach may have more flexibility than just the number of international players he may choose from. Because Richie Arnold only played one season with the Brumbies and has no caps, the 30-cap or five-year service provisions also need to be revised.

What will the next three months bring?

Australian aspirations for Super Rugby Pacific remain with the Brumbies, despite their resting mistake against the Force and the uninspired performance they put up against the Chiefs afterwards. Could Larkham’s team wriggle their way into the championship game?

History suggests no, but ACT will point out that the only thing standing in the way of a massive upset and a trip to the final last year was a Ben O’Keeffe howler in Auckland. In the unlikely event that the Brumbies or Waratahs made it to the championship game. Jones would have two weeks to get his team ready for their Rugby Championship debut against the Springboks in Pretoria.

Since Loftus Versfeld opened in 1963, the Wallabies have yet to triumph there, and the odds against them doing so on July 8 are quite high. The seven-day matchup with Argentina at CommBank Stadium in Sydney would not be as difficult, but the trip back from South Africa with Michael Cheika’s electrified Pumas would be anything but a stroll in the park.

After a fortnight off, there will be two back-to-back Bledisloe Tests, one in Melbourne and the other in Dunedin. Jones has pushed for a big turnout at the MCG, where the Wallabies have already won trans-Tasman matches twice. Forsyth Barr Stadium is a much less daunting venue, as Australia avoided Eden Park because of the FIFA Women’s Rugby World Cup.

The Wallabies go for France in the middle of August from there, most likely with 36 to 40 players, which is a few more than the 33-player team that must be announced by August 28. Before deciding on the final 33, Jones will have one final chance to assess his squad in a pre-Rugby World Cup 2023 test match against the hosts in Paris.

What is their aim 100 days out?

There are still five challenging Test matches to play before then, each of which will provide challenges in the shape of injuries, incidents of good and bad form, issues about combinations, and the question of whether Jones’ playing style or blueprint for the Wallabies can be adopted in such a short period.

Uncertainty surrounds their performance in France, although it is true that the Wallabies were drawn on the far less effective side of the France Rugby World Cup 2023 bracket. If Australia wins their pool and then advances to a quarterfinal against Argentina, England, or perhaps even Japan.

It will be the semifinals before they face any of the top five rated countries in the world: Ireland, France, New Zealand, South Africa, or Scotland. Therefore, it is doubtful that they will get it past the semifinals given their past performance under Rennie, the ongoing discipline difficulties of 2022, Super Rugby Pacific form, and injuries.

But RA took a chance on Jones because he has a track record of success in the Rugby World Cups. Jones has guided the Wallabies to two finals and won the Webb Ellis Trophy in 2007 while serving as an assistant coach for the Springboks. If he is unable to, people at Rugby Australia who took the choice ought to think twice about it.

There is only Hamish McLennan left now that Andy Marinos has already departed through the exit door. Try explaining that to the RA chairman, though, who is upbeat and believes the Wallabies can accomplish something exceptional in France RWC 2023. Many of us are not at all persuaded.

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