Wallabies captain Harry Wilson insists that he has complete faith in flyhalf Declan Meredith, who will be making his Test debut against France in Brisbane on Saturday.
Meredith has been rushed into the team after Carter Gordon and Ben Donaldson were both ruled out with calf injuries.
The 27-year-old had a brilliant start to the Super Rugby season, but faded in the latter half as the ACT Brumbies’ challenge fell away.
He was widely expected to play no part in the three opening Nations Championship Tests, but injuries have forced Wallabies coach Joe Schmidt’s hand.
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Wilson said he was convinced Meredith would handle the pressure in front of a packed Suncorp Stadium.
“Obviously it’s never ideal to lose two of your three 10s in one week,” Wilson said. “But we sort of knew at the start of the week that Carter was no good, so it gave Declan a full week to prepare – and he’s been really good.
“I love it that the people inside and outside of him are [Brumbies teammates] Ryan Lonergan and Len Ikitau.
“They are people he’s played quite a lot of football with, and they’re quite level-headed.”
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The Wallabies go into the match after a heartbreaking 33-31 loss to Ireland in Sydney last Saturday, where they had the chance to win the Test with a final-minute penalty kick that went wide.
“Obviously it’s never ideal after a loss, and losing a few players also,” Wilson said.
“But I guess from last week we take a little bit of confidence, I think, in the forward pack – we have an unchanged forward pack – and the rest of the backline – the nine, the centres – is very consistent.
“We had a few really good moments on the weekend, but ultimately, those moments weren’t good enough to get the result.
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“We thought last weekend we had plenty of opportunities to ice that game, and we didn’t,” Wilson added.
“No team can sit there saying, ‘we’re happy being close and improving’. Ultimately we need wins.
“We’re playing here at home, hopefully with 52,000 Aussies supporting us us.
“We’ve got to go out there and win.”
– AFP
Photo: Chris Hyde/Getty Images
The post Wallabies captain backs rookie flyhalf appeared first on SA Rugby magazine.
Wallabies captain Harry Wilson insists that he has complete faith in flyhalf Declan Meredith, who will be making his Test debut against France in Brisbane on Saturday.
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