Dave Rennie has defended his decision to take Berand Foley off the field near the end of the loss to France and explained why the Wallabies ‘ most experienced player, Michael Hooper, was also off the field for the dying stages.

Stan Sport pundit and former Wallaby Drew Mitchell was strong in his admonishment for Rennie over the decision to take Foley off the field and replace him with Reece Hodge with seven minutes to play. The Wallabies were a point ahead at the time and Hodge kicked a goal to extend the lead further before France crossed for a late try.

“I think it was a poor substitution taking Bernard Foley off,” said Mitchell.

“You’ve got seven minutes to play and you take your key decision maker off. Not so much [about] Reece Hodge I’d get him on somewhere, but at 10 was a poor decision only because you’re taking your key decision maker in Bernard Foley off, the key communicator, the driver, the steerer of the ship.

“Having someone who’s not a 10 come on to play 10 in the most crucial moment of the game? I thought that was a poor decision.”

Rennie told the Sydney Morning Herald he had no regrets about the Foley decision.

“We brought Hodgey on because we were in front,” Rennie said. “He’s a bigger defensive body and has a big boot. That was the thinking around 10.”

Hooper had been replaced just before Foley.

“With Hoops, he was just gassed. He looked gassed after about 50 minutes,” said Rennie.

“There was a lot of kicking and as you know with him, when there’s kicks, he’s going full throttle. They kicked the ball 36 times. He got a second wind for a while.

“We wanted to get Pete Samu on. We needed Jed [Holloway] on from a lineout perspective with Will [Skelton] on the field and defensively Bobby [Valetini] is a bigger body. That’s why we took Hoops off.”

Rennie addressed Folau Fainga’a lineout throws. His first after coming on for Dave Porecki was stolen and his final one was deemed not straight, ending Australia’s hopes of a reprieve.

Rennie said he felt ref Jaco Peyper made the wrong call.

“I don’t agree with the last call. It was on the inside shoulder,” Rennie said. “It certainly wasn’t consistent with other decisions made in the game. The first one he threw short. We picked off a couple of their lineouts too. You’ve got two competitive sides going at it.

“It is what it is. It would have been good to get a little bit more territory in the second half so we could launch from up there.”

Brett Hodgson replaces Seibold with England

Former NRL and NSW Blues State of Origin player Brett Hodgson is joining Eddie Jones’ England as defence coach following the departure of Anthony Seibold.

Seibold was on Tuesday confirmed as Manly’s new coach to replace Des Hasler.

Hodgson, who played for the Magpies, Eels and Tigers and represented the Blues six times, has been coaching English rugby league team Hull.

Jones said: “I’ve known Brett for a few years now.  He first visited us in Bristol in 2018 and I’ve been to Hull on a few occasions.  He was an outstanding league player and he’s a talented, hard-working young coach who is developing.

“He will continue the good work that Anthony Seibold has done since he joined us.

“We are disappointed to lose Anthony but we are really pleased for him as a career move.  It’s great to see assistant coaches move on to head coach roles. 

“Anthony leaves with everyone at England Rugby’s thanks and we wish him all the best in his new role.”

Brett Hodgson said: “I’m really excited about opportunity to join with England, especially in a Rugby World Cup year.

“I’m really looking forward to working with the staff and this group of players.  There is some real talent here and it’s something I feel I can make a contribution to in helping this team succeed.”

Gordon gets his shot at No.9

Having previously delivered under pressure against Italy, Wallabies halfback Jake Gordon is relishing another crack in the No.9 jersey.

With coach Dave Rennie rotating Gordon, Nic White and Tate McDermott in the starting side through their five-Test European tour, the NSW skipper gets his turn in Florence on Sunday (AEDT).

The Wallabies are looking to rebound from a last-gasp loss to Six Nations champions France, who scored a try in the dying minutes to snatch a one-point victory.

Australia last played Italy in 2018 in Padua when Gordon, on debut, was surprisingly thrust into the starting role by then-coach Michael Cheika but helped steer the Wallabies to a 26-7 win.

The Wallabies are unbeaten against the Azzurri in 18 matches.

“I’m really excited for the opportunity again Italy; I made my debut here back in 2018 so I have pretty fond memories,” Gordon told reporters.

“I thought I’d get a few minutes off the bench but I ended up starting the game … to get the opportunity and then to have a good win was awesome.”

The 29-year-old felt he’d added strings to his bow since that first outing, improving his passing and kicking game as well as his leadership skills after captaining the Waratahs.

Gordon has no qualms about the rotation policy, with Rennie up-front about his indecision on the best fit at halfback for the team for next year’s World Cup.

Gordon said he didn’t feel any extra pressure that the Italy Test start was a final audition.

“Obviously the competition is pretty red-hot at the moment,” Gordon said. 

“Tate (against Scotland) and Nic (against France) both played really good games  … that’s the luxury that we’ve got, we’ve got really good halfbacks in the country who are desperate to play footy.

“I just say see it as another opportunity to play well – I’m not too focused about the rotation and thinking this is my last opportunity.”

Who will partner Gordon in the halves will be revealed on Thursday with Bernard Foley at 10 for the opening two Tests.

Rennie forecast personnel changes, saying he wanted to “share the load” through the tour and it’s expected Noah Lolesio will get a crack as a starter.

Gordon said his history with other five-eighths in the squad, and the way they trained, meant the transition was fairly seamless.

“I’ve played with Donno (Ben Donaldson) the last two or three years, I’ve played four or five years with Bernard and me and Noah (Lolesio) have started multiple Tests together.

The Roar rugby experts Brett McKay, Harry Jones and Jim Tucker come together for another Instant Reaction from the Wallabies’ Spring Tour of Europe, a heartbreaking 30-29 loss to France in Paris

“You get a pretty good feel for guys at training, it’s not just the game so you get pretty familiar with the guys.”

The Wallabies are likely to take just two of their three halfbacks to the World Cup next year. Assuming they’re all fit Nic White must be a certainty, leaving Rennie with a choice between Gordon and McDermott.

It would be a devastating blow for whoever is left behind next year.

“I’m not too sure what they’re going to do,” said Gordon. “I think it’s just important that I play some really good footy over the next extra few weeks and then have a really good Super year next year and that other of stuff is out of my control. I just really need to focus on playing some good rugby and see what happens.”

He said the Wallabies were still hurting from the 30-29 loss to world No.2 France in Paris.

“Everyone’s still disappointed by that result since we dominated a lot of the game and put ourselves in a position to win it,” Gordon said.

“There were definite positives from that game – the length-of-the-field try, the forward pack did a great job throughout the night, it was just disappointing in that last five minutes we let it slip.”

Ireland star out of Wallabies game

Ireland have been dealt a blow with the news that veteran scrum-half Conor Murray has been ruled out of the rest of the autumn campaign because of a groin injury.

Murray won his 100th cap in the 19-16 victory over South Africa in Dublin on Saturday but the occasion was soured by a muscle strain that forced him off in the first half.

It means the Munster and Lions half-back will miss Saturday’s appointment with Fiji and the clash with Australia a week later.

Two more Lions are nursing injuries sustained against the Springboks with Johnny Sexton recovering from a dead leg and Tadgh Furlong receiving treatment for an ankle issue.

Neither player has been ruled out of Fiji’s visit to Dublin and centre Robbie Henshaw is also in contention having been ruled out of the Autumn Nations Series opener by a hamstring problem.

Inside centre Stuart McCloskey is making encouraging progress in his battle with the arm issue that forced him off early on Saturday.

Scotland’s Finn Russell backflip

Finn Russell has been called up to Scotland’s rugby squad as an injury replacement ahead of Sunday’s test match against New Zealand in an international reprieve for the mercurial five-eighth.

Russell was a contentious omission from Scotland’s original squad for its autumn internationals, fuelling talk of a breakdown in his relationship with coach Gregor Townsend, who said his decision was based on the player’s “form and consistency.”

Russell has been summoned after fellow No.10 Adam Hastings sustained a head injury during Scotland’s 28-12 win over Fiji on Saturday.

After that game at Murrayfield, Townsend said he had not spoken to Russell since informing him last month he was not in the original squad, while insisting that is not unusual.

Russell is widely regarded as the most talented fly-half in Scotland and has been playing well for French club Racing 92.

The Scots have never beaten the All Blacks, although they went agonisingly close in their last meeting in 2017 when they lost 22-17.

Glasgow prop Zander Fagerson was part of that team and he said: “I’m looking forward to next week. It’ll be a tough challenge but it’s one we’ll be up for.

“These opportunities to go up against southern hemisphere teams don’t come around that often so when they do come along, you’ve got to take your chance.” 

Barbarians name team for NZ XV clash

The Barbarians coaches Scott Robertson and Ronan O’Gara have named a strong and experienced team to play an All Blacks XV at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on November 13.

The squad includes three former England players – Joe Marchant, Joe Marler and Zach Mercer while former All Blacks wing George Bridge is also named alongside the likes of back row Luke Whitelock, La Rochelle’s Tawera Kerr-Barlow and Leinster’s Charlie Ngatai.

The team also lists former British & Irish Lions scrumhalf Rhys Webb and fellow Welshman Aaron Wainwright.

Ireland’s John Ryan, who recently re-signed with Munster after Wasps tanked, also joins the party.

Forwards
Facundo Bosch (Stade Rochelais, Argentina)
Camille Chat (Stade Rochelais, France)
George Henri Colombe (Stade Rochelais)
Cedate Gomes Sa (Racing 92, France)
Joe Marler (Harlequins, England)
Zach Mercer (Montpellier, England)
John Ryan (Munster, Ireland)
Romain Sazy (Stade Rochelais)
Lekima Tagitagivalu (Section Paloise, Fiji)
Aaron Wainwright (Dragons, Wales)
Lauret Wenceslas (Racing 92, France)
Luke Whitelock (Section Paloise, New Zealand)

Backs
George Bridge (Montpellier, New Zealand)
Antoine Hastoy (Stade Rochelais, France)
Tawera Kerr Barlow (Stade Rochelais, New Zealand)
Dillyn Leyds (Stade Rochelais, South Africa)
Joe Marchant (Harlequins, England)
Charlie Ngatai (Leinster, New Zealand)
Remi Picquette (Stade Rochelais)
Raymond Rhule (Stade Rochelais, South Africa)
Teddy Thomas (Stade Rochelais, France)
Rhys Webb (Ospreys, Wales)
Ihaia West (Toulon)

France call up the cavalry

France have called up 15 extra players ahead of their rugby Test against South Africa, including a replacement for injured lock Killian Geraci.

Geraci was a late withdrawal from France’s 30-29 win over Australia in their Autumn Nations Series Test on Saturday and the French rugby federation on Monday confirmed his removal from the squad due to a knee injury.

Eight of the 15 new players called up to prepare for the match against the world champion Springboks have never played for France.

Toulouse lock Thibaud Flament linked up with Cameron Woki in the second row against Australia after Paul Willemse was also ruled out, because of a thigh injury.

South Africa will be without influential lock Lood de Jager for the test, and may lose him for the rest of the tour. 

De Jager injured his shoulder in the weekend loss to Ireland in Dublin and left the team camp to see a specialist on Monday. He has had several lengthy absences due to shoulder problems in the last few years.

It is likely he will be replaced in the starting line-up by Franco Mostert, who came on for De Jager on Saturday and scored a try.