Jorgensen to debut at fullback as more injury chaos hits Wallabies

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Max Jorgensen will make his debut at fullback against the All Blacks after more injury drama in the Wallabies camp, with in-form veteran Andrew Kellaway ruled out of the opening Bledisloe Cup clash with a calf strain.

Kellaway’s injury was announced by the Wallabies as it also emerged James O’Connor is set to start at five-eighth, less than a week after flying back from England on the understanding he wasn’t needed for the first Test against New Zealand in Auckland.

The Wallabies backline for the Eden Park clash on Saturday is set to have a new look from the last Test against Argentina in Sydney.

Having replaced Tom Wright at fullback, Kellaway was outstanding in the two Tests against the Pumas but picked up a calf strain at training and was ruled out.

Jorgensen is set to shift back to No.15, after playing all his Test matches on the wing. But the youngster has 17 games of experience for the Waratahs as custodian in Super Rugby 2023 and 2024, and played all his schoolboy rugby at fullback as well.

With no Ben Donaldson in the squad, Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii was the only other fullback option – having played the position for the Waratahs this year – but he has been left to re-unite with Len Ikitau in the midfield and build on a developing partnership.

Filipo Daugunu and Corey Toole were the other wingers in the Argentina series but Harry Potter is also in line to return to the side after tearing his hamstring in the Lions series.

Max Jorgensen is set to move to fullback, to replace Andrew Kellaway (pictured behind).

After coming off the bench against the Pumas, O’Connor is set to be named as No.10, according to informed sources. After starting in their last Test, Tane Edmed has moved back to the bench, ahead of Tom Lynagh, who is returning from a hamstring injury.

The loss of Kellaway as a senior member of the Wallabies “spine” would have no doubt influenced Schmidt’s decision to start with the experienced, 67-Test veteran.

O’Connor has been through a potentially sapping globe-trotting journey since the Wallabies lost to the Pumas at Allianz Stadium, however.

Informed he was unlikely to be needed for the Bledisloe Cup series, O’Connor was released by the Wallabies to fly to England to join his new club Leicester.

But less than 48 hours after landing, Wallabies coach Joe Schmidt did a U-turn and selected O’Connor for the first Test at Eden Park. The veteran jumped back on a plane and returned to Sydney to re-join his teammates.

James O’Connor of the Wallabies looks to pass the ball in Sydney.

O’Connor will partner with Jake Gordon as the starting halves in what is expected to be a wet clash in Auckland on Saturday.

Kellaway’s calf injury comes after Rob Valetini was also withdrawn from the first Test due to calf tightness, and will raise questions about the number of lower-leg soft tissue injuries suffered in the Wallabies squad since last year.

Valetini missed all but 40 minutes of the Lions series after tearing a calf ahead of the Test series, and he also missed Tests against Fiji and South Africa.

Will Skelton also picked up a calf injury ahead of the Lions series, and missed the Fjii Test and the first Lions Test in Brisbane.

Since last year, Matt Faessler, Dylan Pietsch and Hunter Paisami have also suffered calf injuries that ruled them out of Test matches.

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