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Jake White has often said: “The most important guy on your team is your tight-head prop, and your second most important guy is your reserve tight-head prop.”
Now, the Wallabies have lost not just one, not two, but three.
In the blink of an eye, the area the Wallabies looked to be quietly building a couple of powerful weapons up front, have suddenly lost their three premier tight-head props.
Allan Alaalatoa’s Achilles injury in late July might have got some headlines, but his absence is only now starting to be felt.
Had he been fit and firing, the experienced campaigner would have been the perfect inclusion for a hamstrung Taniela Tupou.
Instead, the two-Test Wallabies captain, who has been one of Australia’s most consistent players for half-a-decade, remains back Down Under as he starts the long road back to the field.
Tupou’s hamstring injury on Tuesday, which has seen him ruled out for Sunday’s Test (Monday, 1:45am AEST) against Fiji and looks likely to see him miss Sunday week’s defining Pool C clash against Wales too, is yet another cruel blow.
Two top-shelf tight-head props, players that have demanded either side of $1 million respectfully, will be absent from the Wallabies’ clash against Fiji.
With the duo missing in Dunedin last month, Pone Fa’amausili started for the first time.
The giant prop, who has been plagued by soft tissue leg injuries in recent years, showed a glimpse of what he’s capable of. But he too is likely another week away from returning.
It has seen Eddie Jones forced to name James Slipper at tight-head prop.
James Slipper and Taniela Tupou (Photo by Chris Hyde/Getty Images)
It’s just the third time in his extraordinary 132 Test career that he will start in the No.3 jersey.
As dependable and stoic as the 34-year-old has been, Slipper quite simply won’t give the Wallabies the point of difference Tupou can offer.
It was the best part of six years ago that Tupou, who was a 21-year-old at the time and merely in the infancy of his burgeoning Test career, was scrummaging against his teammates at training in Sydney.
Behind closed doors, Tupou was asked to jump from the first XV’s scrum to the second XV.
The result didn’t change: whichever side Tupou was on they smashed the opposing scrum.
Tupou’s brute strength has been on show in the past month.
Against a well-respected French scrum, the Wallabies won.
Ditto against Georgia, in the one area that the Eastern Europeans have made a pillar of their game.
Now, the Wallabies’ point of difference has been lost against Fiji.
While Jones barely wanted to talk about the injuries to Tupou and Will Skelton at his team announcement press conference on Friday, the Wallabies coach spoke about the importance of beating Fiji at the scrum to help ensure their other areas of the game didn’t thrive.
“When you play against Fiji you’d always like to have a set-piece advantage and we’ve started the tournament off well in that area, so that’s an area we’d like to keep growing in,” he said.
“And then as I just spoke about then, our ability to win those power contests and as the game goes transitional, to be two steps ahead of Fiji, who are a good side in that area.”
Eddie Jones watches on during a Wallabies training session ahead of their crunch Rugby World Cup clash against Fiji in Saint-Etienne. (Photo by Chris Hyde/Getty Images)
Tupou’s absence isn’t the only big-name player set to miss the Test, with Skelton not only expected to miss the clash against Fiji but also the rest of the pool stage.
Questions must be asked about how the Wallabies’ two biggest weapons in the pack succumbed to injuries at training during the World Cup.
Rugby figures have been left shocked and staggered by the loss of the two giants ahead of the Wallabies’ crucial pool matches.
Their workload is something that has raised eyebrows, with the duo succumbing to injury after playing long minutes in the blistering heat in Paris.
Jones, too, has tweaked the Wallabies’ training program so they train three straight days instead of two. Skelton, who has lost an estimated 10 kilograms since returning to the Wallabies program, tweaked his calf on the third day of training.
The captain was the Wallabies’ best player during their 35-15 win over Georgia, with his on-ball presence felt and his 140kg-plus body of brute muscle to be dearly missed in the middle of the park.
His calm, settling presence can’t be underestimated either, with the 31-year-old showing his leadership late in the first half by getting his young, inexperienced side back on track and focussed.
Whether it was because of his influence, the improved fitness of the squad or the 11th-ranked Georgians, the Wallabies gave away just seven penalties in their World Cup opener – their least since 2021.
That discipline will be essential to replicate against a Fijian side that thrives on territory and possession.
His absence would likely help the Wallabies’ lineout troubles, with Skelton barely used given his huge and heavy frame.
Meanwhile, Jones said that the decision to select Ben Donaldson over Andrew Kellaway was a “difficult decision”.
He added: “Donno played very well at fullback in the last game, kicked well and we feel like we’ve got the necessary cover there.”
Ben Donaldson and Carter Gordon will likely be targeted in defence by Fiji’s explosive backs. (Photo by Warren Little/Getty Images)
It’s hard to argue with that, but Fiji will have analysed the last 10 minutes of the Wallabies’ win over Georgia.
Donaldson, whose struggles in defence throughout Super Rugby have been plainly obvious, fell off two tackles against Georgia at fullback.
The first would have ended in a try if not for Mark Nawaqanitawase’s brilliant trysaver on Georgia’s Akaki Tabutsadze.
Fiji will look to expose Donaldson in the area, believing if they can get the likes of Semi Radradra in a one-on-one, particularly off set-piece ball, they will run over the top of him.
He isn’t the only one.
Last month in Paris, France got plenty of pay from Jonathan Danty running straight at Carter Gordon from set-piece play.
Rather than keep the ball in the maul, France played quickly off the top of the lineout and had Danty run straight at Gordon. It worked, as he scored the opening try.
It wasn’t the only time he made metres over the middle.
The damaging performance has likely contributed to Simon Raiwalui selecting Josua Tuisova, one of the biggest backs in the world and a man who has made a living playing in France, at inside centre.
Josua Tuisova. (Photo by Alex Livesey/Getty Images)
Tuisova will demand the Wallabies get two in the tackle at every opportunity, which will leave space on the fringes to try and expose the likes of Donaldson.
If Fiji get the space and time they want to attack, the Wallabies will be on the backfoot all match.
It’s why Nic White’s kicking game and experience must come to the fore. It’s the Wallabies halfback’s biggest match of his career.
The Wallabies should still have enough to overcome Fiji, but the absence of Tupou and likely Skelton means it’s no sure thing.
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.