Joe Schmidt believes competition for positions will help deliver an improved Wallabies performance against Los Pumas.
The matchday 23 that will take on Argentina in Townsville will see several players, including veteran Allan Alaalatoa and lock Lukhan Salakia-Loto, miss out.
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Speaking to reporters on Thursday, Schmidt believes internal competition will see the Wallabies hit the ground running on Saturday, especially in comparison to the last time these two sides met in Sante Fe.
“We led by 20 points before falling off a cliff, I think I described it as, at the time,” Schmidt said when asked about Australia’s record 67-27 loss last year.
“The players are conscious of what they need to deliver now. It's hard to connect something from a year ago with what we're currently doing, but certainly there have been a few connections.
“Part of that connection is the quality of the Puma side. We saw that two weeks ago against the All Blacks. That's been a pretty consistent theme over recent years.
“I think they've got one of the stronger back rowers in world rugby. We're expecting it to be super tough. That's the nature of the TRC.”
Schmidt will move Tom Hooper into the second row in Will Skelton’s place, with the head coach expecting the Brumbies connection to fill the massive shoes the star lock leaves behind.
“Canoes, I'd call them,” Schmidt joked.
“They're massive. He has to get them made specially.
“Tom has been great for us. He's got a massive engine. He keeps going really well.
“He and Nick Frost have got a very good combination. Sometimes you want a ready-made combination from club that makes it easy for those two guys to slot in together.
“With the volume of work that Tom Hooper can give us and the line-out ability that Nick Frost gives us, we just felt it was a pretty good balance.
“[On depth], if you watched Josh Canham in the final last week, I don't think Bond [University] would win it without him. Lukhan obviously, he has the experience.
“Once someone's got the jersey - and Tom Hooper didn't deserve to lose the jersey - but Bobby Valentini came back and played well in that last test.
“Sometimes it's about fitting players in who have already got the jersey, and it's other players' challenge to work their way in. Lukhan's training well. He's a smart line-out player. He's a big athlete. There's lots to like.
“It's probably one of those things that this time last year we didn't feel like we had competition for places, but there's genuine competition for places in that second row now.”
One notable return is that of Tom Lynagh, with the young Wallaby set to slot back in after overcoming a concussion sustained against the British & Irish Lions.
“He's pretty studious,” Schmidt added.
“He knows how we're trying to play. His first three test match starts were against the Lions, it got very physical.
“He's bounced back from that really well. We've got him double checked. We want to be as prudent with him as possible.”
The move will see James O’Connor shift back to the bench, but Schmidt plans to surround the youngsters in the backline (including Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii, Corey Toole and Max Jorgensen), with more experienced options.
This also played into the decision to select veteran Andrew Kellaway at fullback and reinstate Harry Wilson bas captain after recovering from a knee injury.
“Andrew Kellaway is a nice, safe pair of hands at the back,” Schmidt added on the additional changes.
“[With Harry], that looked like a pretty serious one at the time, it's just the way the knee pinched on a bit of cartilage, and that settled pretty quickly.
“Harry brings a raw-boned, big-engine back-rower to us, and leadership as well. Not that he talks a lot, but just that he gets involved and he's wholehearted in what he does, and so it's great to have Harry back.”
Schmidt expects the team to deliver a strong result, and with hot conditions forecast, a sell out predicted, and World Cup calculations and rankings in the background, Saturday looms as a crucial fixture in the 2025 season.
“[It’s been] a really good vibe with the rugby folk in town,” Schmidt smiled.
“We really enjoyed that. Work's been hot.
“The one real positive is the whole week's been like that. We've been able to acclimatise a little bit. With a mid-afternoon kick-off, it's going to be in the heat of the day.
“That's going to present its own challenges.”
