LONG READ Wallabies backrow stocks to get ultimate depth check

Australian rugby has always endured a mixed bag when it comes to depth in various positions across the field in the professional era. That’s not an issue isolated to Australia, of course, but it remains true that some positions have just always run deeper than others.

Joe Schmidt, I’m sure, would like a few more tighthead props at his disposal going into this years Rugby Championship. Hunter Paisami, I’d hope, is being ferried around in a plush-comforted carrycase, such is the risk at inside centre if he were to be hit by a bus. And fly-half is certainly a long way from being settled, with not a whole lot of alternate options available.

Indeed, No 10 has always been a bit of a delicate area for the Wallabies; Stephen Larkham’s move from fullback to fly-half back in the day was as much out of necessity as it was Rod McQueen’s genius.

But one area that has always been pretty healthy has been the backrow, and openside flanker in particular.

And the best measure for that level of depth has been the scarcity of Test experience the next-in-line players have gained behind that generation’s standout player.

Think Brett Robinson to David Wilson. David Croft to Phil Waugh and George Smith. Liam Gill and Matt Hodgson and Sean McMahon to David Pocock. Heck, Liam Wright and Fraser McReight to Michael Hooper in recent years.

McReight well and truly stepped out of Hooper’s shadow in 2023, and in his three outings in the Australian No 7 jersey in July, he’s gone to another level again in 2024.

So much so, that his sudden unavailability for at least the two Tests against South Africa, in Brisbane this weekend and Perth the next, has quickly highlighted that sometimes backrow depth isn’t as deep as it looks.

With McReight needing quick surgery to repair a thumb injury suffered in the first Test win against Wales in Sydney, the obvious replacement probably would have been Queensland and Wallabies backrow teammate Liam Wright.

With Hooper now a retired former Sevens player and Wright also out of action, the cupboard behind McReight was quickly shown to be… well, a bit bare.

Except that Wright will also miss both Springboks Tests, after succumbing to a bicep injury that may keep him sidelined longer than these next two weeks against the World Champions.

With Hooper now a retired former Sevens player and Wright also out of action, the cupboard behind McReight was quickly shown to be… well, a bit bare.

Quality players around the states quickly emerged, but with the ‘Boks about to arrive in Brisbane when the news broke last week, it wasn’t exactly the confident start Wallabies fans wanted for The Rugby Championship.

Ultimately, Joe Schmidt brought ferocious Brumbies on-baller Luke Reimer and Western Force opensider Carlo Tizzano into his squad for the two South Africa Tests, but we really won’t know how he thinks he can cover McReight and Wright’s absence until he names a side on Thursday.

And when he spoke to media in Brisbane on Sunday, after the squad reassembled the day before to begin preparations, it was reasonably clear that he wasn’t super sure which way he was leaning himself.

Reimer and Tizzano are very good players in their own right, and their elevation to the Australian squad is not totally unwarranted.

Reimer has in the past few years become the Brumbies’ backrow bench mongrel, injected into contests with 20 or 30 minutes to go with the clear direction to cause untold levels of damage to the opposition breakdown. And he’s become very good at it.

So good, in fact, that he’s perhaps not as effective at the start of games. Reimer started in the ACT No 7 jersey for the first three games of Super Rugby Pacific in 2024, didn’t play the fourth, and then reverted to that bench disrupter role off the bench for the twelve straight games to the Brumbies’ lost semi-final.

His pilfering is so good that he led Super Rugby Pacific for turnovers won per eighty minutes in 2024 despite not playing anywhere near eighty minutes each week.

Reimer could undoubtedly have an impact at international level, but starting a Test would be a big ask even before you lob South African ruck cleaners into the equation.

Reimer could undoubtedly have an impact at international level, but starting a Test would be a big ask even before you lob South African ruck cleaners into the equation.

Schmidt acknowledged Reimer’s bench impact for the Brumbies on Sunday, while also pondering how close Tizzano is in the No 7 selection race.

“Yeah, that’s the way they’ve used him,” Schmidt agreed about Reimer. “Luke came in and trained with us in the Georgia week, so he’s familiar. And Carlo was in the hub trainings prior to the July Series, so they’re both pretty familiar to us.

“Carlo had a massive volume during Super Rugby and did a super job for the Force.

“We’re not quite sure where they fit yet, that’s a decision we’ll make having a look at training this week.”

Tizzano is certainly a more rounded player since returning home to Western Australia from New South Wales via the Ealing Trailfinders in England, and has definitely added to his carrying game.

The obvious question would be whether he’s hard enough on the ball for Test level.

Logically, the questions around Reimer and Tizzano bring someone like Tom Hooper into the frame, who could potentially do a job of starting a Test at openside, before slotting one of the true on-ballers into the match for the last half an hour.

Indeed, Hooper started three Tests at No 7 in 2023, including Australia’s last two Rugby World Cup pool games before their eventual elimination.

But Schmidt alluded to another option on Sunday. Queensland backrower/lock Seru Uru was also brought into the Wallabies squad for this block of games, and has played plenty of flanker and No 8 for the Reds. Even when he plays lock, he plays on the ball more and probably even plays a little more dynamically on either side of the breakdown than Hooper perhaps can.

“We really liked Seru early in the season,” Schmidt said. “We thought he was going really well, and he had that thumb issue and he came back, and he only got the tail end of the season, and we just didn’t feel that he hit the same level.”

Talking to Seru, he felt he was a little bit off. But he’s had the chance to have a couple of games back with the Reds, against Wales and Tonga, and looked somewhere near where he needed to be.

Joe Schmidt

“And even talking to Seru, he felt he was a little bit off. But he’s had the chance to have a couple of games back with the Reds, against Wales and Tonga, and looked somewhere near where he needed to be.

“Obviously, with Liam Wright and Fraser McReight coming out, there was a little bit of space for Seru to come in and potentially be a bit of an all-purpose player for us.”

The true utility player that was trumpeted, but never actually used in 2023, perhaps?

What this does highlight is how little time Schmidt has really had with his Australian players so far in 2024. It’s almost been a throwback to amateur ways, having only a week or two ahead of a Test series to get ready, and it prompted another concession from Schmidt on Sunday.

“I would like to have more time, to be honest. I think I’ve got to be candid, it’s very much been a sprint so far,” he said.

“We had three match weeks, we had a brief camp here (in Brisbane) before those, and we’ve had a small hiatus and we’re back underway. Six new players that I haven’t spent time with before, and connecting it all up is a real challenge.

“I’ve coached against most of (the Springboks players) over a number of years with Ireland and New Zealand, and so I probably know them better than I know us.

“But we’ve got a great bunch of young men who are really committed to trying to make sure they’re as competitive as possible on Saturday.”

And that proof will once again be in the pudding.

South Africa are not without injury issues themselves, and have made the trip to Australia – where they don’t exactly have the greatest of records – without locks Jean Kleyn, Lood de Jager and Franco Mostert, prop Steven Kitshoff, scrumhalves Faf de Klerk, Jaden Hendrikse, and Herschel Jantjies, and outside backs Canan Moodie, Edwill van der Merwe, and Damian Willemse.  No.8 Jasper Wiese and centre Andre Esterhuizen are suspended, too.

But Schmidt will need every trick up his sleeve to convince his rookie backrowers and the rest of the team behind them that can become a very good team without McReight.

Australia’s backrow stocks are generally pretty good, but there is no doubt that this current test of that depth has highlighted a few concerns as to just how deep the stocks really are.

The Wallabies, Schmidt, and Australian fans will be hoping above all hope that they’ve not been looking at a backrow mirage all this time.