PERTH, Australia – As outgoing head coach Joe Schmidt prepares to take charge of the Australian Wallabies for the final time this Saturday, the national rugby side has announced three key starting lineup changes for their upcoming Nations Championship clash with Italy, headlined by a hometown start for back-rower Carlo Tizzano. Tizzano will step into the starting scrum side in place of Fraser McReight, who turned in a standout performance as Australia’s best player in last week’s 42-26 defeat to Six Nations titleholders France in Brisbane. The shift of McReight from the starting XV to the reserve bench is widely viewed as a planned rotation move for the third consecutive weekend of tournament play.
Of the three starting lineup adjustments, two are forced by injury. Brandon Paenga-Amosa has been promoted to the starting hooker position after playing nearly the full match against France last week, when starting hooker Josh Nasser suffered a head injury in the opening minutes of the contest. On the wing, Harry Potter will step into the starting spot after Dylan Pietsch sustained a calf injury that rules him out of Saturday’s fixture.
Flyhalf Declan Meredith, who made his senior international debut against France last week, has been retained in the starting group. Ben Donaldson has recovered from injury to earn a spot on the reserves bench as backline cover, pushing out Jock Campbell for the match.
Schmidt, who first announced his departure from the head coaching role last year, has stayed in the position through the tournament to allow incoming coach Les Kiss time to wrap up his existing commitments with the Queensland Reds. Kiss will officially take over the Wallabies ahead of next month’s test series against Japan, and Schmidt is eager to end his tenure on a high note by snapping the team’s current six-match losing skid.
In his pre-match comments released Thursday, Schmidt acknowledged his side has shown flashes of strong form in recent fixtures but emphasized the need for sustained quality across 80 minutes. “We’ve shown some encouraging signs but we need to sustain our accuracy and effort throughout the match,” Schmidt said. “The challenge for us this week is to perform at a consistently high standard against a dangerous Italian side, who were hugely competitive in the Six Nations, beating both Scotland and England as well as running other teams close.”
Australia’s recent tournament results have been defined by collapsed second-half leads: after holding a 21-12 halftime advantage over France last week, the side conceded 30 consecutive unanswered points to drop the match, and in the tournament’s opening round in Sydney, Australia surrendered a 12-point lead to fall 33-31 to Ireland.
Italy enters Saturday’s matchup with its own challenges, having dropped both of its opening Nations Championship fixtures. Italy lost its tournament opener to Japan, followed by a 47-17 defeat to New Zealand last weekend. Lock Niccolo Cannone will miss the clash against the Wallabies, serving a four-week suspension after receiving a red card for a head-butt in the second half of the All Blacks match.
Australia’s full starting lineup for Saturday is: Tom Wright, Max Jorgensen, Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii, Len Ikitau, Harry Potter, Declan Meredith, Ryan Lonergan; with captain Harry Wilson, Carlo Tizzano, Rob Valetini, Jeremy Williams, Josh Canham, Allan Alaalatoa, Brandon Paenga-Amosa, and Angus Bell. The reserves are: Billy Pollard, James Slipper, Zane Nonggorr, Miles Amatosero, Fraser McReight, Tate McDermott, Ben Donaldson, and Filipo Daugunu.