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PARIS – Eddie Jones is set to resist making any changes to his 33-man World Cup squad despite a couple of minor injuries to his props and a knock to the elbow of fullback Andrew Kellaway.
Nor will the goal-kicking concerns plaguing the Wallabies spring any last-minute surprises either.
But The Roar can reveal that tight-head prop Pone Fa’amausili is currently battling a calf injury, which is expected to see him miss at least the Wallabies’ World Cup opener against Georgia on September 9 in Paris.
He isn’t the only prop under an injury cloud, with James Slipper (foot) also in doubt for the Wallabies’ opener against the fast-improving European nation.
The news appears better for Kellaway, who came off late in the Wallabies’ 41-17 loss to France with an arm issue suffered midway through the second half at a breakdown, with the fullback’s elbow expected to be fine after copping a knock.
Yet, with 17 Australian players across the English Channel preparing for a Barbarians and others, including Pete Samu about to commence their careers in France, Jones won’t have to bring a player out from the cold on the other side of the planet if they are required.
Eddie Jones won’t make any last-minute changes ahead of the World Cup. (Photo by David Rogers/Getty Images)
Jones on Sunday said many of his players were holding on, having been put through a gruelling in-season pre-season that head coaches typically include in their programs ahead of World Cup campaigns.
“I wouldn’t think so at this stage,” Jones said, when asked on Sunday following his side’s defeat to France if there would be any last-minute changes ahead of Monday’s deadline.
“We’ve been going through a tough training period as the boys know, so everyone’s right on the edge at the moment.
“We’ll have one more week of hard training in Saint Etienne and then we’ll ease off a bit for the Georgia game.
“We’ve got a few blokes right on the edge but, at this stage, I couldn’t envisage the 33 being changed.”
Fa’amausili, who had his best performance in a gold jersey when he started against the All Blacks earlier this month, is one of those players who picked up an injury at training since arriving in Paris.
It meant the giant tight-head prop wasn’t considered for selection against France in their final match before the World Cup gets underway.
While Slipper, who was wearing a moon boot at the end of last week, also struggled to run.
Both players will likely have important roles to play for the Wallabies, with Slipper’s experience invaluable and Fa’amausili’s size and explosiveness highly valued by Jones.
Backs Samu Kerevi and Max Jorgensen, who were injured at the time Jones named his squad in Darwin earlier this month, are making strong progress too.
“Kerevi should be right for the first game,” Jones said.
“He did a full session yesterday, so we expect him to be right.
“Jorgensen is coming along really well. He just looks younger every time I see him. I’m a bit worried about his age, whether he’s 13 or 18 because I don’t think we can play 13-year-olds. He’s coming along really well.”
Angus Bell and Pone Fa’amausili of Australia share a moment following The Rugby Championship & Bledisloe Cup match between the New Zealand All Blacks and the Australia Wallabies at Forsyth Barr Stadium on August 05, 2023 in Dunedin, New Zealand. (Photo by Joe Allison/Getty Images)
Nor is Jones panicking about his goal kicking options.
After missing crucial penalties against the All Blacks in both Bledisloe Tests, Carter Gordon’s kicking woes were exposed at the Stade de France.
Gordon missed two penalties first half conversions and left 10 points out on the field.
His struggles from the kicking tee have only heightened the scrutiny surrounding Jones’ decision to drop Quade Cooper and leave James O’Connor and Bernard Foley, as well as halfback Ryan Lonergan, out of the squad.
Lonergan kicked four goals, including two penalties, during Australia A’s 30-17 win over Portugal on Saturday – 24 hours before the Wallabies’ loss to Les Bleus at Stade de France.
James O’Connor is one of 17 players to feature for the Barbarians. (Photo by Chris Hyde/Getty Images)
While Foley won’t play for the Barbarians because of his contract with Kubota in Japan, Lonergan and O’Connor have both been selected in the famous club’s side to face Northampton Saints this weekend.
They have been joined by more than a dozen other Australian-based players, including Lachlan Lonergan, Harry Johnson-Holmes, locks Lukhan Salakaia-Loto, Cadeyrn Neville and Josh Canham, back-rowers Lachie Swinton, Seru Uru and Harry Wilson, and backs Hunter Paisami, Dylan Pietsch and Tom Wright.
Props Tom Lambert and Sam Talakai, hard hitting back Filipo Daugunu and former Australian sevens player Lachie Anderson are the other Australian featuring in the squad.
Jones could also return to Samu, as well as other French-bound players Folau Fainga’a and Reece Hodge, if injury strikes.
After missing out on World Cup selection, Samu and Fainga’a also featured for Australia A.
Samu played the entire 80 minutes and looked set to finish his career in gold with a try but was mowed down just short of the tryline after a 75 metre runaway effort.
“I did think I was going [to get a try],” Samu said following the match. “Probably a few too many baguettes this week probably slowed me down there. But it was good fun”.
Samu, who featured against South Africa but was left out against Argentina before being axed entirely, said he was left surprised and disappointed to miss World Cup selection for the second straight tournament.
“Pretty disappointing. I quickly parked that and lucky enough to get the opportunity to wear the gold jersey. Obviously. it’s not the main squad but anytime I get to put on the gold jersey I try to give my all.”
Samu, who said he had received little communication from Jones, said he had no regrets about making the decision to return to Australia in 2018 to chase his Wallabies dream.
“Not really. He’s going for a few of the younger boys, which was tough to take but it is what it is,” Samu said.
“It was only after that final whistle that it sort of hit me that it could potentially be my last game in the gold jersey, which was pretty sad. But I’m excited about what’s to come with Bordeaux.
“Yeah, no regrets on my decision to come back. It was always my dream to play for the Wallabies. I ticked that off. I missed out on a couple of World Cups, which was tough to take, but you’ve got to park it and moving forward.”
Join The Roar rugby editor Christy Doran, former Wallaby Matt Toomua and a cast of regular and special guests as they look at the biggest issues in the game on The Roar Rugby Podcast. If you’re looking for great odds on the next game check out Aussie bookmaker PlayUp. Chances are you’re about to lose. Set a deposit limit.