Wallabies tweak Taniela Tupou’s plan as Eddie Jones mulls changes to Puma

Powerhouse prop Taniela Tupou will return from an Achilles injury with Australia A in Tonga this weekend. Wallabies teammates trying to come out of hiding from their Springboks and find victory against an equally desperate Argentina.

The Wallabies confirmed an updated plan for Tupou on their arrival home from South Africa on Monday afternoon, with fellow front-rowers Pone Fa’amausili and Blake Schoupp added to the extended squad preparing to face the Pumas.

Australia will train at Manly Oval this week with Michael Cheika and the Pumas having temporarily taken over Coogee Oval, a wounded Wallabies outfit fully aware of how much work they have left to do. 43-12 hammering in Pretoria. But veteran center Samu Kerevi said it was not time to panic as Australia had time to get their game together ahead of the Rugby World Cup.

“No, not at all. It’s a marathon, it’s not a full sprint,” Kerevi said when asked if the Wallabies were worried about where they are.

“We want to build well for the World Cup. We have a deep team, so every game is an opportunity to improve.”

Kerevi is likely to be in the starting side to face the Pumas at the CommBank Stadium and the inside center has managed 28 minutes since returning from a hamstring strain picked up in the Barbarians-World XV match at the end of May.

Kerevi would then repeat his successful 2021 midfield partnership with Len Ikitau, who had a night off in Pretoria with several of his Wallabies teammates.

“Yeah, I definitely put my hand up,” Kerevi said of Saturday night’s game. “The body is in good shape and the mind is in good shape. I’m doing everything that’s best for the team. But yeah, definitely this week.

“We’ve had a competitive edge in practice, everyone is pushing each other in those positions and [fellow centre] Lalakai Foketi has also played well for the Waratahs all season, so there are plenty of opportunities across the board.

The decision to send Tupou to Tonga for a one-off game against Toutai Kefu’s side suggests Wallabies coach Eddie Jones and his assistants are aware they are throwing the Rebels-bound prop straight back into the Test arena.

Tupou has not played since tearing his Achilles in a seemingly harmless incident against the Wallabies against Ireland in Dublin last November, but recently joked he was ready to “play for Randwick” in his eagerness to impress Jones before the team leaves. France.

It will be a little easier for Tupou to face the Tongan club instead of the Pumas pack for his first game in nine months, although Argentina were also beaten by the All Blacks in the Mendoza match.

If Tupou returns to Nuku’alofa, he would have two weeks to prepare for the Wallabies’ back-to-back Bledisloe Cup games in Melbourne and then Dunedin.

Angus Bell, meanwhile, looks set to return from a leg injury in Sydney this weekend, while the additions of both Fa’aumasil and Schoupp suggest Zane Nonggorr and Matt Gibbon will be under pressure to retain their places among the replacements.

Elsewhere, Jones has a number of selection decisions to consider after the Wallabies coach admitted Australia were beaten “every side of the game” in Pretoria. Although emotions overwhelmed the 64-year-old during his time an impassioned response to a question from a South African journalisthe will have to think carefully about his team composition to face the Pumas.

If Jones’ comments about Carter Gordon after the crushing defeat in Pretoria are anything to go by, he may well give the Melbourne Rebels playmaker a start to his impressive performance off the bench.

Jones declared Gordon “a star of the future” and with only Tests against the All Blacks and the final World Cup warm-up against France to come, the Wallabies coach may well see the date with the Pumas as the best opportunity to test the 22-year-old’s readiness to start at international level.