July is almost upon us and with it comes the start of the Test-match season and the announcement of Joe Schmidt’s first ever Wallabies squad.
Friday’s first squad announcement will give those chosen just under two weeks to get across the detail and gameplan which Schmidt and his team have devised over the last six months.
While many eyes will be on who is to wear the coveted no.10 jersey, the tight five is where Australia must stake its claim to be successful in the upcoming series against Wales and Georgia in July.
Physicality, workrate, set piece and ruck efficiency are crucial attributes these players must excel at, and are areas which recent Wallaby teams have had trouble with at times.
Whether it is losing the contact zone, conceding penalties at scrum time or an exceedingly large workload of big minutes throughout the year due to injuries, Wallabies teams under Dave Rennie and Eddie Jones have struggled to consistently dominate the tough stuff.
Wallabies coach Joe Schmidt will name his first Test squad on Friday. (Photo by Mark Metcalfe/Getty Images for Rugby Australia)
Assembling a tight-five which is greater than the sum of all the parts of the five Super Rugby franchises will be a selection headache for Schmidt, defence coach Laurie Fisher, and scrum coach Mike Cron.
So how does one go about picking the best tight-five?
Perhaps it’s purely about size and the heaviest pack is selected; perhaps it’s about work-rate, meaning you select the consistent workhorses who have proved their engine can go the distance throughout the entire Super Rugby Pacific season.
Maybe you forget about the data and pick the most experienced tight-five who know the dark-arts of the maul, scrum, and skullduggery of the ruck?
The Heavies
If one is to pick purely on size, the easiest way to go about it is by casting your eyes over the SRP teams and pick out the biggest lads.
A front row of Alex Hodgman (122kg), Jordan Uelese (115kg), and Taniela Tupou (145kg) is the biggest beef Australia has to offer up front.
Having a second row of Miles Amatosero (125kg) and Lukhan Salakai-Loto (124kg) would add considerable strength and weight to an already powerful looking pack, especially at scrum and maul time.
Lukhan Salakaia-Loto, Jordan Uelese, Sam Talakai and Rob Leota could all feature for the Wallabies in July. (Photo by Asanka Ratnayake/Getty Images)
In total ‘the heavies’ weigh in at 631kg, and they would be a pack which excel at gainline carries, the maul and scrum.
However, this rag-tag bunch of players have an interesting dynamic; two would-be Wallaby debutants, one returning Wallaby and two players who are not widely considered to be the best player in their position in Australia currently.
A lack of game time due to injuries and bench selection in SRP, means it is a relatively unfit front-five, but it does paint an ominous picture of what could be.
If the entire group’s fitness increases, then there is no reason why a pack like this couldn’t wreak some havoc later in the year.
The workman
Schmidt has regularly talked about the need for players to be consistent and how workrate and the one percenters make the difference in rugby.
As far as raw numbers go, Matt Gibbon and James Slipper are neck and neck in carries and tackles.
Gibbon has been penalised more times while both work exceptionally hard to clear attack breakdowns as neither are the main ball carriers for their respective Super sides.
Slipper alongside Matt Faessler, who has been a try scoring machine as well as a crucial cog in Les Kiss’ plans for the Queensland Reds, sees him just sneak in ahead of Uelese who has upped his workrate in 2024.
Sam Talakai gets the title of hardest working tighthead after a strong year of consistent performances and good numbers.
The second row is easier to call with Nick Frost and Ryan Smith both playing huge minutes for their sides and doing the work which rarely garners any of the headlines.
Ryan Smith was one of Australian rugby’s hardest workers in 2024. (Photo by Kelly Defina/Getty Images)
Both have carried the ball around 100 times and have played more than 870 minutes.
Smith’s workload in attack and defence has surpassed every lock in Australia.
Hitting one of the highest number of attacking rucks of any player in the regular comp with 189 tackles for 10 misses is extraordinary for an uncapped player.
To put them in context, Frost had a tackle record of 114 tackles and 28 misses heading into last weekend’s semi-final loss to the Blues.
Special mention goes to Josh Canham, who is nipping at the pair’s heels in almost all stats.
The Experienced Ones
You can’t go past James Slipper and Allan Alaalatoa as your props, the pair boast more Test caps than the other prospects combined.
The issue in this tight-five comes rather at hooker.
Faessler has a handful of Tests to his name while Uelese has a few more.
Neither can truly be called an experienced head like their would-be front row partners, but Uelese clinches it.
Waratah rake Dave Porecki is injured and, therefore, cannot be considered for the Wales and Georgia Tests.
For the locks, age and breadth of experience favour Izack Rodda and LSL.
Darcy Swain and Cadyrn Neville are both in the conversation but are not as well travelled as the other two, nor do they have as many Wallaby caps to their names.
Izack Rodda is one of Australian rugby’s most experienced locks. (Photo by Paul Kane/Getty Images)
Whether any of these figures should or would factor into Schmidt’s plans is up for debate, but it is interesting to cast one’s eye over the various assets which feed into the profiles of the individual players.
One thing which Wallabies fans can be certain of is Warren Gatland’s Welsh side will be impeccably fit and ready to work come July 6.
Gatland’s forwards will work tirelessly to rob Australia of clean ball at their own ruck and to starve them of pilfering opportunities when they attack.
The Welsh will get an opportunity to build cohesion ahead of their trip Down Under this weekend when they play South Africa at Twickenham on Saturday.
How that game and knowledge of Gatland’s side will influence selection for Schmidt will be interesting to see.
Whether the heavies, workman, or experienced ones are preferred as whole or intermingled entities, there certainly appears to be a tight-five on Australian shores which can mix it with the Welsh come July 6.
