Wallabies legend Tim Horan is tipping six or seven bolters “at least” when Eddie Jones unveils his first squad on Sunday morning.
Wallabies coach Jones said he would name “approximately 33 players and maybe two or three rehab players” in the squad to assemble for an April camp on the Gold Coast.
The Sydney Morning Herald reported that teenage backs Max Jorgensen and Tom Lynagh were poised for selection in their first season of Super Rugby while Horan, James Horwill and Justin Harrison named their own bolters on Stan Sport’s Rugby Heaven.
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“Zane Nonggorr for the Reds has done really well,” said Horan, who served as a selector under Jones during his previous Wallabies coaching tenure.
“No Taniela Tupou, he’s still injured, coming back and of course Angus Bell’s coming back from injury as well. So I just think he’s looking for the next prop that he can actually blood in and it might not be for Rugby World Cup. It might be for later down the track.
“But he was pretty impressed with him in the trial game in Narrabri against the NSW Waratahs and he’s been very good in the first few matches.”
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Former Wallabies captain Horwill opted for resurgent Rebels skipper Brad Wilkin as his bolter.
The 27-year-old flanker has had an injury plagued career to date but is stringing together consistently impressive performances.
“He’s been a big part of their success so far,” Horwill said.
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“But also I think he offers something different to what (Fraser) McReight and (Michael) Hooper offer as a No.7, he’s a bit more of a defensive player. He’s probably not that sort of link player that you see from McReight and Hooper and he’s a bit of a bigger body than the two of them. So I think he’s been impressive so far.”
Former Wallabies lock Harrison broke from tradition and chose to put the spotlight on an in-form back.
His bolter pick was Rebels playmaker Carter Gordon, who leads Stan Sport’s Australian Super Rugby Pacific player of the year race after another strong performance against the Reds in round five.
“I see him as fearless,” Harrison said.
“Eddie Jones talks about fearlessness, handling adversity under pressure and he wants to see creativity as well. He wants people to pull on a jersey and play like a Test player all the time and Carter Gordon is doing that in extreme adversity with the Melbourne Rebels.
“He made the decision to go down from Queensland, has put his hand up and he’s been, every week, probably one of the most consistent Super Rugby players in any of the teams, including New Zealand and Moana and Fiji.”
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Despite the short lead-in to the World Cup, which kicks off in September, Horan believed Jones would also use the opportunity to play some “mind games.”
“He’ll leave some players out to shock a few,” he said.
“It’s only very early in the season. I reckon there might be 6-10 players that are in this squad that won’t make the Rugby World Cup squad because Eddie wants a closer look at them.”
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