Wallabies skipper Harry Wilson will not face the Springboks in Cape Town, after suffering a knee injury in Australia’s incredible 38-22 comeback win at Ellis Park last weekend.
While Wilson’s injury is not understood to be serious, he will miss this weekend’s second Test, sources confirmed to ESPN. His place will be taken by Rob Valetini, who is at last fit after a troublesome calf injury kept him to just 40 minutes of the British and Irish Lions series.
Valetini pinged his calf in Newcastle ahead of the one-off Test with Fiji, as did Will Skelton, but where the veteran lock was able to make his return in the second Test with the Lions and then play in Sydney and Johannesburg, the two-time John Eales Medalist has not been sighted in the gold jersey since the MCG.
But Valetini is a superb replacement for Wilson, who scored two tries in the 16-point win last weekend and generally led from the front in a typically committed performance.
With Wilson out and prop Allan Alaalatoa also sidelined, Wallabies coach Joe Schmidt will need to name a new skipper, with Skelton one option and star flanker Fraser McReight, who previously captained the Australia under 20s, also a potential candidate.
Schmidt is meanwhile poised to finally hand a Test debut to Brumbies flyer Corey Toole after Dylan Pietsch broke his jaw in a tackle on Springboks captain Siya Kolisi, who is also now injured and won’t play this weekend, in Cape Town.
The Sydney Morning Herald first reported Toole’s inclusion, before a source with knowledge of selections confirmed his inclusion to ESPN.
Toole first joined the Wallabies squad in 2024 but was never handed a Test call-up, with coaches wanting him to improve both his defensive work and skills under the high ball.
He returned to the Brumbies at the start of the season and did just that, once again proving how dangerous he can be in attack on account of his scintillating speed.
Toole was last month released back to the Brumbies to face the Lions in Canberra, and scored a try in his side’s 36-24 loss.
Toole, a former star of Australia’s men’s sevens squad and two-time Olympian, will be the 20th Test debutant of the Schmidt Wallabies era.
The Wallabies will have to make at least one further change after James Slipper suffered a concussion last weekend and has since returned home to Australia.
While Angus Bell would appear to be the front-runner to replace Slipper in the No. 1 jersey, Schmidt could also consider Tom Robertson and keep the dynamic Waratahs front-rower in the bench role he filled so well last weekend.
Schmidt is otherwise expected to stick with the remainder of the team that stunned the two-time reigning world champions last weekend, resisting calls to further freshen up his squad after four torrid Tests in five weeks.
Australia will confirm their matchday 23 on Thursday night [AEST].
