The Wallabies were once the smartest team in the world – but not picking a back-up flyhalf defies logic

Comment: The Wallabies were once considered the smartest side on the planet.

But, on Friday morning, you would have been forgiven for waking up and thinking ‘WTF is going on?’ after seeing the team named by Joe Schmidt late on Thursday night.

You’d have felt even more dazed had you watched Schmidt’s press conference, where the experienced coach threw up all sorts of contingency plans that didn’t come close to passing the pub test.

Although just one change to the starting XV from the one that beat the Lions in Sydney earlier this month was made, the absence of a second playmaker across the entire matchday squad was enough to set social media alight.

Many thought Ben Donaldson was harshly left out, which would be a fair assumption had you read the governing body’s media release, given not one word was mentioned about the versatile back’s omission, but, as revealed by The Roar, the 26-year-old had suffered an injury at training in the hours before the official team was announced.

Ben Donaldson’s injury ahead of the Rugby Championship opener forced a tweak to the Wallabies’ bench. (Photo by Paul Kane/Getty Images)

Yet, perplexingly, Schmidt didn’t immediately call up Tane Edmed – the third and final playmaker in the 35-man squad, who debuted for the Wallabies last November – but rather added a sixth forward onto his eight-person bench.

Asked who the back-up for O’Connor – the 35-year-old, playing his first Test in three years and having started just one Super Rugby match in two years – was, Schmidt reeled off two Wallabies veterans who had never played a professional match in the No.10 jersey, let alone played against the Springboks on arguably the toughest cauldron on the international stage.

“Well, Nic White can play ten and Andrew Kellaway, if we go with what we’ve got at the moment,” Schmidt told reporters on Thursday night at the World Rugby-mandated team announcement 48 hours before kick off.

Asked to clarify whether he might tweak his team before kick-off on Sunday (1:10am AEST), including whether Edmed was a chance of playing his second Test, Schmidt admitted it was a possibility.

“Yeah, he’s in consideration, for sure,” Schmidt said.

“Tane is one of the options. Nick Champion de Crespigny, Carlo Tizzano, Hunter Paisami played ten in the under-20s and then shifted to 12, plus [he] gives us really good midfield cover. So there’s a few options that we’re just going to try to get our best coverage and best confidence from.

“Our intention was probably to potentially give Tane a run next week after having spent the week with us. It’s not a foolproof formula, but it’s what we’ve tended to do with most players who come in fresh. Tane has only had two trainings with us. It’s a big ask, but we’ve got confidence in him.”

One Test playmaker Tane Edmed was bizarrely left out of the Wallabies’ side to take on the Springboks despite Ben Donaldson’s injury at training on Thursday. (Photo By Piaras Ó Mídheach/Sportsfile via Getty Images)

But if the Wallabies had so much confidence in Edmed, why wasn’t the Brumbies-bound No.10 immediately drafted into the Wallabies squad when Donaldson went down? It’s not as if the playmaker is a novice or unfamiliar with the squad, having toured with the national squad last November to the UK and Ireland.

Nor is the shambolic messaging a one-off.

In the side’s last Test on August 2, Dave Porecki was injured at training but still named to wear the No.2 jersey against the Lions.  

Ahead of that same Test, veteran halfback White announced his retirement despite the Wallabies knowing full well that Jake Gordon, the nation’s regular first-choice No.9, was injured.

White justified his selection by playing marvellously, but the messaging was odd given the 35-year-old was always likely to board the plane to South Africa. On Sunday, he will play his 74th Test after once again being named in the No.9 jersey.

Before that, the side’s only foreign-based star, Will Skelton, said he was “raring to go” ahead of the Lions opener after being wheeled out to speak to the media ahead of the first Test. Skelton’s name was a glaring omission later that week, before he roared back to turn the series on its head in the second Test.

Another powerful forward, Rob Valetini, said in the lead up to the second Test that he thought he was a “shoe-in” for selection in the opening Test after a calf issue in early July. The back-rower did, however, re-tweak his calf in the second Test and hasn’t played since.

The bizarre nature of O’Connor’s return for the fifth Test of the year also continued the clumsy planning – or lack thereof – in 2025.

Thirteen months ago, Schmidt said he had turned away from O’Connor, as well as Bernard Foley, because at some stage Australian rugby needed to back the emerging playmakers in the country.

“If we don’t invest in them now, it’ll be difficult for them,” he said following the Wallabies’ unconvincing win over Georgia in Sydney, where Donaldson started in front of Noah Lolesio.

“If you put them in and out, they don’t get continuity, they don’t build confidence.”

Moments after announcing his side to take on the Springboks, Joe Schmidt admitted he might still change his team following Ben Donaldson’s injury. (Photo by David Rogers/Getty Images)

Despite those comments, Schmidt, having unfortunately seen two young playmakers go down over the past six weeks, chose O’Connor over Donaldson despite the 26-year-old being named in 13 of the nation’s past 17 Tests.

Schmidt justified the decision by saying O’Connor needed more time in the saddle during training this week, yet The Roar understands it had just as much to do with the Wallabies’ uncertainty of Donaldson’s ability to boss the team around from the outset.

Yet, if the Wallabies had those concerns, why was Donaldson in the side at all?  

It’s not like O’Connor has any form to speak of.

After all, the veteran playmaker’s last match was almost two months ago, where he played one minute off the bench for the Crusaders in their Super Rugby triumph over the Chiefs.

Before that, O’Connor had started just once for the Crusaders – a match that proved to be one of three defeats for the Super Rugby champions in 2025, losing 45-29 to Moana Pasifika.

Despite being the Crusaders’ finisher in 2025, veteran Wallaby James O’Connor will play his first Test in three years after being selected to wear the No.10 jersey against the Springboks. (Photo by Joe Allison/Getty Images)

Now, O’Connor, whose strength was finishing off matches in 2025, will be tasked with leading the Wallabies against the back-to-back world champion Springboks on a field the nation hasn’t won at since 1963.

Meanwhile, Bernard Foley, the nation’s most proven playmaker still playing in a top league, who Eddie Jones admitted he “might have” got it wrong by not taking him to the World Cup in 2023, especially after a fine season in Japan this year, remains in Australia.

The decision to start O’Connor might pay off, but the odds are stacked against him.

Edmed, too, could be a late addition.

But the haphazard, reactive planning, and bizarre messaging from the top echelons of Rugby Australia simply doesn’t cut the mustard.