Schmidt brings back big-name Wallabies ahead of 'tough' Italy clash, but JOC left waiting for another call

Joe Schmidt has moved quickly to draft Len Ikitau and Tom Hooper into his Wallabies squad, but James O’Connor looks set to be overlooked for his side’s crunch Test against Italy in Udine.

Exeter-duo Ikitau and Hooper were at Twickenham with the Wallabies on a non-playing capacity after being restricted from running out against England because of Premiership Rugby’s agreement with the Rugby Football Union outside the international window.

They weren’t alone in being on hand to watch the Wallabies go down to England 25-7 either, with playmakers James O’Connor and Tom Lynagh also at Twickenham.

But curiously, neither playmaker was with the Wallabies.

O’Connor, who recently joined Leicester Tigers, cancelled his overseas plans to ensure he stayed close to the Wallabies if Schmidt came knocking, while Lynagh, who was a late addition to Rugby Australia’s injured list, is back in the country where he spent his first 18 years of life.

Asked whether O’Connor, Ikitau and Hooper would all travel to Italy with the Wallabies, Schmidt said the latter two would but remained coy about his intentions with 35-year-old O’Connor.

“Post this evening, we’ll make some firm decisions on those players,” said Schmidt, who is also unlikely to have Will Skelton for another week given his La Rochelle side have a catch-up fixture in the Top 14.

“Obviously Len and Tom Hooper were both at the game today and with the team, so they’re not far away.

“I think James is on holiday, but he is coming back from holiday. He played a lot during the Lions, TRC, straight into Leicester, so for him to get a break was the best thing.”

Shortly after Schmidt’s post-match press conference, Ikitau and Hooper were announced in the Wallabies’ updated squad list on Sunday morning AEDT.

The Roar understands O’Connor has yet to be contacted.

That decision could come down to the fact Schmidt wants to see more of Tane Edmed in the No.10 jersey, while code-hopper Carter Gordon is also expected to be fit to make his return to the XV man game next week after a quad niggle delayed his comeback.

While Edmed struggled to influence the Test and the Wallabies’ attack barely fired a shot, Schmidt insisted he was “investing” in the future.

“I felt Tane Edmed, for example, acquitted himself really well in moments of the game, and then probably will learn some things from the game, and that learning is what you’re investing in players for the future and I still think that we’ll get something out of the game,” Schmidt said.

“I know the dressing room’s disappointed, Harry’s [Wilson] disappointed, we all are, but there are two things that probably stick out to me is that we didn’t give up, we kept trying, we made seven clean linebreaks, so did England.

“It wasn’t like we were utterly outplayed, but in moments of the game, I felt they dominated us and there’ll be learnings in that for us.”

The defeat was the Wallabies’ seventh from 12 Tests in 2025 and leaves them in danger of failing to receive a seeding at the 2027 World Cup by finishing outside the top six on World Rugby’s rankings.

It means that the seventh-placed Wallabies will likely need to win two of their next three Tests to move back into the top six, with Tests against Italy (tenth), Ireland (third) and France (fourth) to come.

“If we don’t get to six in the world, all we’ve got to do is just keep building because you can still be a great chance and not be six in the world, but that would be the ideal for us,” Schmidt said.

“But we’ve got to be able to build up the next few years and not be afraid of playing one of the big guns.

“I think having had some big wins this season so far, I think we’ve demonstrated ability with a full squad that we can knock teams over, and we’ve got to build the depth in behind that squad.

“So this tour is really part of that.

“Italy will be very tough. They were one score away from England at half-time last time they played them. They’re a good side. A coach, a good friend of mine in Gonzalo Quesada, and I know that Gonza’s a very good coach and he will have them fine … So many players that play at the very top level and that’s going to be a massive challenge for us.

“We’re going to have to dust ourselves off very quickly.”

The clash in Italy’s north east will be the first time the two nations have met since the Wallabies’ shock loss in 2022.

The 28-27 defeat proved to be the final nail in the coffin for Dave Rennie, as the Rugby Australia board got jumpy following the embarrassing loss in Florence.

While Schmidt said he wouldn’t necessarily bring up the result to the playing group, the New Zealander revealed that he caught up with his compatriot Rennie in Japan last month and the looming clash against Italy was raised.

“I don’t think we speak about anything that preceded the last 18 months,” said Schmidt, who succeeded Eddie Jones’ dramatic one-year tenure with the Wallabies.

“All we’ve said is we are where we are, we have the depth that we have, and we have the challenge in front of us that we face.

“We’ve tried to just face that challenge and try to incrementally improve and, unfortunately, that’s not linear. And particularly when you get a team that are at home, highly motivated.

“We were hoping for better conditions, but you don’t get that all the time.

“We can’t use that as an excuse for them to play in the rain often enough this year that we’ve got to be good enough in those conditions.

“So we are mindful of what happens last time we went to Italy. I am because I’ve looked back at that game, and I caught up with Dave Rennie in Japan and we discussed it briefly.

“All we can affect now is how well we prepare to go into that game and be as competitive and get the performance that’s more accurate than what we feel we’ve put out tonight.”

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