LONG READ Four Australians racing into contention to face the Lions

Whether you want to call them unexpected prospects, left-field picks, or apply the age-old ‘bolter’ tag, the momentum behind Australia selections is only going to build as we reach the halfway point of the Super Rugby Pacific season this weekend.

But while anointing ‘Wallabies certainties’ now feels only slightly less pointless than when the season started in February, seven rounds of competition does at least provide a stronger body of work to go on.

Just as it’s wonderful to see all four Australian sides currently in the top six, it’s equally encouraging to see players from all four teams playing themselves into the kind of form Wallabies coach Joe Schmidt will find hard to ignore.

The four names below all played for Australia under Schmidt in 2024, but most found themselves towards the fringes of selection by the end of the year.

Current form should have them front and centre in 2025, and firmly in the frame for the three-Test series against the British & Irish Lions starting on 19 July.

Alex Hodgman – Queensland Reds loosehead prop

He might just be the form scrummaging loosehead in Super Rugby this week, coming off a couple of back-to-back performances in which opposition tightheads were left to trudge off the field well beaten and with their tail between their legs.

While the Queensland lineout has been misfiring in recent weeks by comparison, their scrum has been so important in their resurgence to the top of the competition standings.

Hodgman has been a key cog within that, winning crucial scrum penalties at crucial times in games, allowing the Reds to march downfield, and from there register points and increase leads.

While many expected Isaac Kailea to kick on behind Angus Bell at the Waratahs, it’s been Hodgman that has really hit the scrummaging heights. If anything, young Western Force loosehead Marley Perce might be the next one to watch, starting plenty of games this season and building vital experience alongside Tom Robertson as the Force quietly go about their business.

Hodgman has certainly put himself in the conversation to add to his sole Wallabies cap awarded by Schmidt last season, in the process becoming the first player in 50 years to play for both New Zealand and Australia. Still only 31, the Reds prop is timing his rise nicely, as well.

Other notable Reds mentions: Wing Filipo Daugunu has been outstanding since moving back to Brisbane after his stint with the Melbourne Rebels, and certainly won Schmidt’s admiration during the July Tests last year. He’s been playing more at outside centre in recent weeks too, only adding to his selection value.

Tom Lynagh’s value has similarly grown, proving himself to be a super-consistent, composed and incredibly tough young fly-half. Even if this upcoming Lions series might loom as a year too early for him, he still looks the kind of player who could be building perfectly for the 2027 Rugby World Cup and a 60+ Test career beyond that.

Tom Hooper – ACT Brumbies lock/blindside flanker

An interesting theory floated recently was that of the swag of players coming off contract in 2025, it is the ones who have confirmed their next move one way or the other – like Fraser McReight spurning millions of yen to remain in Australia, or Len Ikitau, who will bank a few pounds with Premiership outfit Exeter in the middle of a sabbatical deal – who have really started to stand out in the last month or so.

Another of those players to nail down their immediate future is Brumbies hybrid lock/six Tom Hooper, who also announced a move to Exeter in the New Year, and who isn’t just impressing his own coach Stephen Larkham, but so many other opposition coaches and captains across the first seven rounds that he leads the Super Rugby Pacific Player of the Year voting by four votes.

After spending much of 2024 in the Brumbies’ second-row rotation, injuries to Rob Valetini and latterly Charlie Cale have pushed Hooper to the blindside flank this season. The result has seen Hooper transformed into one of the hardest, most effective carriers in the competition and one of, if not the, most effective Brumbies tackler.

He’s still a regular lineout option, of course, but now that he’s moved to the side of the scrum, his game has gone to new levels of hard edge and effectiveness now that the lineout is less of a core role.

Queensland’s Seru Uru is potentially his biggest rival playing in a similar role this season and it’s debatable whether Schmidt would find room for both of them. Whether Hooper’s looming departure counts against him remains to be seen, but he’s certainly gained plenty of attention with his start to the season.

Other notable Brumbies mentions: Andy Muirhead doesn’t get the headlines or even the highlights like plenty of other Australian wingers, but all of them would love to have Muirhead’s consistency of performance. So often referred to as ‘the glue’ that holds the Brumbies backline together, Muirhead has similarly started the season in outstanding fashion, and with Wallabies squad experience in recent years, certainly would not look out of place if selected again.

Langi Gleeson – New South Wales Waratahs back-row

Gleeson preceded Hooper’s departure news by a week, and then suffered the ignominy of being ‘uninvited’ from Schmidt’s three-day Wallabies camp in Sydney in January as the signing for French club Montpellier was confirmed. Schmidt would later explain that Gleeson is certainly still in the frame for selection in July, and his early-season form has made it clear that selection would be warranted.

Gleeson has been one of the Waratahs’ most consistent players in an up-and-down start to the season that doesn’t seem to match their four win-two loss record, with his ball-carrying numbers only trailing Hooper by one among all Australian players.

The red headgear makes the NSW No.8 hard to miss on the field, and the strength of his carrying game has made him hard for opposition defences to bring down, too.

Gleeson played in nine of the Wallabies’ 13 Tests in 2024, returning to the side for the two Tests in Argentina and playing both Bledisloe Cup and all four Spring Tour matches from there. All nine appearances were in the No.20 jersey, where he brought instant impact and physicality to close out matches. A similar role wouldn’t be out of place, or out of the question, for the Lions series.

Western Force back-rower Nick Champion de Crespigny potentially looms as Gleeson’s main competition for such a role, but the debutant would have to put together an incredible back half of the season to edge ahead of Gleeson’s Test experience as a known entity for Schmidt.

Other notable Waratahs mentions: Aforementioned prop Isaac Kailea looks the Waratah most likely to step up from the fringes into the Wallabies squad if, like NSW as a whole, he can string together more consistent performances.

Ben Donaldson – Western Force fly-half

The Wallabies No.10 jersey has been a constant source of discussion and debate for nigh on two decades now, and 2025, more than plenty of others in recent years, seems to be one in which no Australian fly-half has truly landed the knock-out selection blow.

But Donaldson has certainly been instrumental in the Force’s impressive start to 2025, playing a quality running and distribution game to complement an effective kicking game. And a surprising turn of speed too, when his decisions to take on the line have been converted into clean breaks and open space.

Much of the Force’s attacking shape and direction comes from what Donaldson sees or provides, and even without looking at carry metrics, it feels like Donaldson is running a lot more than his contemporaries.

Donaldson and Lynagh have certainly emerged as the two best goal-kickers in Australia, too, going at 85% and 88% accuracy currently, and sitting nearly 15% better than Tane Edmed and nearly 20% better than a surprisingly wayward Noah Lolesio. The Brumbies fly-half trailed only Damien McKenzie as the best goal-kicker in Super Rugby in 2024, with both in the very high eighties for the whole season.

The other major factor in Donaldson’s favour at the moment is timing. With a couple more years of professional rugby under his belt over Lynagh, Donaldson looks the most likely candidate if Schmidt decides that Super Rugby form has counted against the incumbent Lolesio.

If change was to be made and Lynagh looks more a long-term prospect, then Donaldson has to be the one for the here and now, unless James O’Connor leads the Crusaders to yet another Super Rugby title. And wouldn’t that be a story on so many levels.

Other notable Force mentions: If Donaldson has been the Force’s best player in 2025, then wings Dylan Pietsch and Harry Potter are on the podium with him. Potter especially has grown into the season and has fast become one of the more dangerous open-field runners in Australia.

Schmidt used them both in 2024, as well, so it wouldn’t take a lot of imagination to see either – or both – in the frame come July.