Playmaker Tane Edmed has been added to the Wallabies bench for Sunday’s (AEST) Rugby Championship opener against South Africa in Johannesburg.
Edmed replaces Nick Champion de Crespigny after coach Joe Schmidt initially went for a 6-2 bench split.
"We've got a lot of confidence in him, he's been around the group now for a little while and what he's put in on the training park has been first class," Wallabies captain Harry Wilson said.
"We really enjoy having him around the group. He's training consistently well, which should give him a lot of confidence to go out there and do the job.
Initially, Schmidt was relying on Nic White and Andrew Kellaway to cover flyhalf after Ben Donaldson’s last-minute injury left James O’Connor as the lone playmaker.
“Nic White can cover ten and is astute enough to do so, Andrew Kellaway has the skill set as well if we go with what we've got at the moment,” he said on Thursday, hinting at the change.
“We know we've got some versatility in our group, but I think that's something that we're going to look at at the captain's run and just see what best fits for us,
Instead, Edmed slots into the side for his first appearance since the final Test of 2024 against Ireland.
The outgoing Waratah was knocked out minutes into coming onto the field for his debut, forced from the field.
“It was a weird one,” Edmed said on his debut last week.
“Obviously, super special to run out and make my Wallabies debut and it didn't go how you envisioned it to go, you think of everything else but that happening.”
The Springboks have been forced into their own late change, with prop Boan Venter brought in for Jan-Hendrik Wessels.
