MELBOURNE (Reuters) – The Wallabies rejected by Eddie Jones for his first training squad will be eager to make an impression when the Queensland Reds host the ACT Brumbies in Super Rugby Pacific on Friday.
Reds scrumhalf Tate McDermott missed out on a spot in the Australia squad released on Sunday, having been a regular back-up to Brumbies number nine Nic White under former Wallabies coach Dave Rennie.
Brumbies flyhalf Noah Lolesio, another Rennie project, will also hope to give Jones second thoughts as the Canberra outfit aim to end a seven-match losing streak at Lang Park.
“Obviously pretty disappointed, but at the same time … I haven’t played amazing footy, so to be in that squad would probably have been a surprise more than anything,” McDermott told reporters on Thursday.
“The conversation with Eddie, (I’ve) just got to sharpen up really, it was as simple as that.”
Queensland flyhalf James O’Connor and fullback Jock Campbell are also not on Jones’s radar in something of a reflection of the Reds’ disappointing 2-4 start to the season.
Nearly two years after Brad Thorn’s Reds upset the Brumbies for the 2021 Super Rugby AU title, patience is wearing thin among Queenslanders.
“We need 23 men … showing up for their state ready to go to war,” said McDermott.
The Brumbies, comfortably Australia’s stand-out team in the competition, are better represented in Jones’s squad after winning five of their first six games.
Across ‘the ditch’ in New Zealand, the Otago Highlanders’ revival will be put to the test when they host a Wellington Hurricanes team bolstered by the inclusion of refreshed captain Ardie Savea in Dunedin on Saturday.
After losing their first three matches, the Highlanders are back to 3-3 after wins against Western Force, Fijian Drua and Moana Pasifika.
Victory over the Hurricanes, who are second on the table with a 5-1 record, would put the Highlanders back in the finals mix.
“We’re excited to see how these last three weeks, with our game evolving, how that looks against another Kiwi team,” said Highlanders assistant coach Richard Whiffin.
The Auckland Blues are similarly poised at 3-3 after a tough away loss to the leading Waikato Chiefs.
The Blues close out the round on Saturday when they travel to the Melbourne Rebels whose young flyhalf Carter Gordon was a surprise inclusion in Jones’s squad.
Gordon may find out whether he is up to test level when he measures himself against Blues playmaker Beauden Barrett, the All Blacks’ twice World Player of the Year.
The Canterbury Crusaders (4-2) open the abridged Easter weekend when they host winless Moana Pasifika on Friday, with All Blacks flyhalf Richie Mo’unga earning his 100th cap.
The Chiefs, Fijian Drua, Force and the New South Wales Waratahs are on a bye week.
(Reporting by Ian Ransom in Melbourne; Editing by Peter Rutherford)
Disclaimer: This report is auto generated from the Reuters news service. ThePrint holds no responsibilty for its content.