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Head coach Eddie Jones has brought in an additional seven players for the Wallabies camp which starts on the Gold Coast on Monday, bringing the total of those attending in person or remotely to 50.
Ned Hanigan, Len Ikitau, David Porecki, Blake Schoupp and Darcy Swain were all been ruled out of action Sunday after suffering concussions in their Super Rugby Pacific games over the weekend while back rowers Pete Samu (ankle) and Langi Gleeson (calf) are ruled out with injuries.
But those seven players will participate via Zoom along with the seven overseas based players who were previously named. Jones has added seven replacements to ensure he has 33 active players for training drills. There will also be three long term rehab players involved.
Waratahs centre Izzy Perese is one of those who heeded Jones call to step up and demand selection after his initial snub and has come back in after two impressive SRP games, including a powerful performance against Western Force on Saturday.
Waratahs teammate Lachlan Swinton and Harry Wilson return as well while there are first call ups for Brumbies pair Rhys Van Nek and Rory Scott and Reds teammates Matt Faessler and Ryan Smith.
Swinton was meanwhile cited on Sunday for alleged foul play in the win over the Force on Saturday night.
“While we feel for the players who have been ruled out, it provides an opportunity for those who will now come into camp,” said Jones.
“This camp will set the tone ahead of the Test season and we know we’re going to need a fast start.”
Jones said on his podcast this week that he was enthusiastic about what he could do with the squad.
Izaia Perese . (Photo by Bradley Kanaris/Getty Images)
“It’s like this honeymoon period where everyone’s feeling good about the team, so very enthusiastic but also cognisant of the fact that we’ve got a fair bit of work to do to go from a team that’s winning at 38 per cent,” Jones said in a nod top Dave Rennie’s ultimately fatal winning record.
“To win the World Cup you’ve got to win at 100 per cent. So 62 per cent is a big gap. Super Rugby performances haven’t been at the level we would expect and, therefore, we’ve got a lot of work to do which is daunting but also exciting. So a few different emotions.”
He likened the experience of a first camp to “walking into a classroom when you’re a casual teacher, which I did for a couple of years at Matraville High.
“I used to always get the bottom year nine classes because that’s the day that the teachers would take off because they didn’t want all the boys with all the hormones pumping through their bodies … so you’re trying to work out a way to get the team to work together.
“You’re looking for players or pupils who are going to help you get the class working, you’re looking for the players or pupils who are troublemakers and then you’ve got to try and find a way to work with them, find access with their brains. It’s similar to the team. You walk in first day you’ve got some ideas with what you want to do, ideas about how you want to play, ideas of how you want to operate off the field, but at the end of the day you’ve got to do some work with them and find out where you can go.”
Jones revealed he had spoken to consultant and former Rennie assistant Scott Wisemantel about the camp.
“Wisey and I spent a couple of hours talking about rugby,” said Jones. “We were talking about the fact that, how many players have you coached that have actually optimised their career? Really, really got everything out of their career?
“Wisey’s probably coached for 30-odd years at the highest level, I’ve got a similar length of time, and between us we probably thought of one or two players. And that’s the challenge for every player is to find the best in themselves because there’s always noises outside of their head getting there.
“Talking about this camp, this is one of the central themes: how are you going to find a bit more in yourself?”
The camp is a first opportunity for the players to meet Jones’ growing staff and the head coach to start forging his team.
“The staff’s very important these days. Most sporting teams in the world, particularly invasion sports like AFL, rugby league, rugby union, carry a squad of about 20 people, that’s probably on the small side, most people have around 25 which involves medical staff, psychologists, logistical staff, sports science staff, maybe nutritional, and all that staff is what you’re trying to do is get them on the same page, feeding the same message so the message and the tone that they speak to the players is the same tone that you’re trying to push yourself as a head coach.
“That consistency of message, the tone of the message; they say most people remember 93 per cent of the message through the tone rather than the actual content.
“One thing you do as a coach is never hope. Hope’s not a good emotion. We want the players to leave this camp feeling that they want to be a part of it. They want to be a part of this smash and grab mission and they’ll do everything they can to be a part of it. They’ve got to be prepared to sacrifice something and they’ve got to be prepared to bring things to the table. At the end, I want every player to sign up – ‘yeah, we’re in. We’re in. I want to spend the next five months now and do everything I can to be the best player I can be.'”