The Wallabies captaincy merry go round has continued under Joe Schmidt with Liam Wright unveiled as Australia’s shock new skipper on Thursday.
Born in South Africa, Wright is a 26-year-old flanker from Queensland who played the last of his five Tests under previous coach Dave Rennie in 2020.
He co-captains the Reds with halfback Tate McDermott but has been plagued by injuries in recent seasons.
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Wright is well respected but is a genuinely surprising choice ahead of more fancied candidates such as Allan Alaalatoa and Fraser McReight.
He will become the seventh Test captain in 12 months after previous coach Eddie Jones used six different captains last season: Alaalatoa, McDermott, Michael Hooper, James Slipper, Will Skelton and Dave Porecki.
Schmidt has indicated he is likely to share captaincy duties around as he gets to know his players during the three July Tests against Wales and Georgia.
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Liam Wright of the Wallabies is tackled during the Bledisloe Cup in 2020. Getty
The Wallabies host Wales in Sydney on Saturday.
Schmidt also named seven uncapped players in his 23 including Force lock Jeremy Williams and Reds centre Josh Flook as starters.
Isaac Kailea, Charlie Cale, Angus Blyth, Tom Lynagh and Dylan Pietsch are the new faces on the bench.
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“The squad has worked hard over the last week or so to prepare as best we can for what’s going to be an incredibly tough Test against Wales,” Schmidt said.
Meanwhile, Wales coach Warren Gatland has also named a fresh-faced team with just three starting survivors from the side that humiliated the Wallabies 40-6 at last year’s Rugby World Cup.
They are fullback Liam Williams, No.8 Aaron Wainwright and prop Gareth Thomas.
Despite their own struggles, the Wallabies, ranked ninth in the world, are heavy favourites against 10th ranked Wales who have lost their last seven Tests.
Wales haven’t beaten the Wallabies in Australia since 1969.
“We’ve had a good week of preparations here in Sydney and are excited to get out on field on Saturday,” Gatland said.
Ireland coach Joe Schmidt and Wales coach Warren Gatland in 2018. Getty
“This first Test is going to be a great challenge for us. Test matches are all about fine margins and we know we need to be accurate, keep our discipline and stay in the fight for the full 80 minutes.
“There’s a lot of talent within the Australia squad and we know they will want to come out firing and put in a performance against us this weekend.”
AUSTRALIA (1-15): James Slipper, Matt Faessler, Taniela Tupou, Jeremy Williams, Lukhan Salakaia-Loto, Liam Wright (c), Fraser McReight, Rob Valetini, Jake Gordon, Noah Lolesio, Filipo Daugunu, Hunter Paisami, Josh Flook, Andrew Kellaway, Tom Wright
Reserves: Billy Pollard, Isaac Kailea, Allan Alaalatoa, Angus Blyth, Charlie Cale, Tate McDermott, Tom Lynagh, Dylan Pietsch
WALES (1-15): Gareth Thomas, Dewi Lake (c), Archie Griffin, Christ Tshiunza, Dafydd Jenkins, Taine Plumtree, Tommy Reffell, Aaron Wainwright, Ellis Bevan, Ben Thomas, Rio Dyer, Mason Grady, Owen Watkin, Josh Hathaway, Liam Williams
Reserves: Evan Lloyd, Kemsley Mathias, Harri O’Connor, Cory Hill, James Botham, Kieran Hardy, Sam Costelow, Nick Tompkins