It has been nearly two years since both Pete Samu and Carter Gordon last put on the Wallabies jersey, but that drought is set to end this weekend when they take the field in Udine.
Joe Schmidt has made four changes to his starting XV that went down to England; however, the head coach expects a dangerous Italy pack to leave the Wallabies with their hands full.
Watch every second of the 2025 Autumn Nations Series live and on demand via Stan Sport.
The decision to rest Len Ikitau has been made by Schmidt following his inclusion in the squad after the England loss, an approach the head coach is also taking with James O’Connor, who is yet to be called into the squad.
“When he chose to do the sabbatical, he was going to come straight out of the Lions, straight out of TRC, straight into Exeter,” Schmidt told reporters on Thursday night following the team announcement.
“[This is] to just give him some breathing space.
“It's been such a tense and intense season that we just want to try to still get the best out of players and Hunter Paisami is a very good player for us.
“James, he could even be involved next week. Again, he's a little bit like Lenny in that he went straight from TRC, he played all the way through to the finals, obviously being in the Crusaders and then linked up with us.
“For James, just to get a bit of breathing space, particularly when you've shifted up north.”
Schmidt will once again turn to his two young flyhalf options, handing Carter Gordon his first start in nearly two years, with Tane Edmed dropping to the bench after back-to-back test matches.
“He's grown in confidence. He's familiarised himself with things,” Schmidt explained of his decision to start Gordon.
“He's worked really hard behind the scenes because it's obviously a pivotal position. You tend to be the fulcrum of the team, the guy running the show a lot of the time.
“For us, Carter has just gathered momentum through the last two weeks and this is his opportunity to demonstrate where his starting point is for us.
“I think he's got a really good ceiling, just like Tane.
“I think it's really important we build depth in that position with Tom Lynagh, Ben Donaldson, those guys also being back in Australia.”
Pete Samu will also make his return in nearly two years off the bench, last featuring in the 2023 Rugby Championship, having a busy couple of months during the Lions series playing for the Waratahs, AUNZ Invitational XV, and linking up with the First Nations Pasifikfa XV.
“He's been working really hard, and when you work really hard for things, you're more likely to receive them,” Schmidt said of Samu.
“He knows that it's a great opportunity for him. We're confident in how hard he'll work, the motivation he has, the athlete he is.
“He certainly gives you another line-out option. As much as Pete isn't super tall, he's very, very quick in the air.
“He went in there [Bordeaux] not really as a starting player, but forced his way in and was almost a default selection by the time he finished there.”
With conditions set to be perfect for rugby on the weekend, Schmidt is not counting his chickens before they’ve hatched, dismissing any claims that the Italians would be considered an easier fixture on tour.
With Ireland and France to follow, a win over Italy would likely be critical for the Wallabies in terms of World Cup calculations and for maintaining momentum, especially with the likes of O’Connor and Will Skelton likely in calculations to join the squad after this weekend.
However, the side’s infamous 2022 loss to Italy still lingers for the men in gold, with Schmidt acknowledging his side expects a dangerous Azzurri outfit to take the field looking to replicate the same feat.
“We've got 15 test matches across 22 weeks, nine different countries, 10 different time zones,” Schmidt added.
“Part of it [the challenge] is the amount of travel you're doing. You just try to get two really good sessions on Tuesday and Thursday.
“What I wouldn't be as convinced about is that Italy is the easier one in the middle. I'm unconvinced about that because I've seen enough of these players.
“I was coaching with the All Blacks before we played them in the World Cup. On that day, nothing went right for them and it was a big score, but we saw lots of threats in their team.
“We know we're going to have our hands full. They're some of the same tight forwards that were here three years ago when they toppled the Wallabies.
“It was a good Wallabies side. Will Skelton was in there, Pete Samu was there, Len Ikitau, Hunter Paisami, Tom Wright, Mark Nawaqanitawase.
“We know that it's going to be a lot tougher than maybe people might perceive from the outside.”
