Meredith set for Wallabies debut as Schmidt laments 'curse of the 10 jersey'

Declan Meredith is set to become Wallaby number 997 when he starts at fly-half against France in Brisbane on Saturday, handed a debut in the run-on side after Carter Gordon was ruled out of the July Tests with a calf strain.

Gordon had started the previous weekend against Ireland but was unable to train on Tuesday after what initially appeared to be cramp was confirmed on scan as a minor muscle tear. The injury left coach Joe Schmidt scrambling for cover at No. 10, a position that has seen seven different players wear the jersey across Australia’s 15-Test season.

Schmidt revealed on Thursday that a recall for Noah Lolesio — who would not have played for the Wallabies in 370 days by kick-off — was briefly discussed before the coaching staff settled on Meredith. “We contemplated getting hold of Noah but Noah hasn’t been with us at all,” Schmidt told reporters in Brisbane. “We thought that Ben [Donaldson] was still going to be okay. That was a bit of a surprise and we didn’t really get that surprise until Tuesday when he wasn’t able to train.”

Meredith, who captained the ACT Brumbies against Hong Kong China last year, enjoyed a breakout 2026 Super Rugby Pacific campaign and was named in the starting side by Brumbies coach Stephen Larkham on 14 occasions. He will again partner team captain Ryan Lonergan in the halves, this time on the Test stage.

Queensland Reds fullback Jock Campbell has been named on the bench to provide cover at both 10 and 15. Schmidt said he had spoken to Campbell about the dual role for some time. “He did a fair bit of it this year in terms of doing the kick-offs, doing the line kicking and even in the game last week, he got into that pivot position a few times,” the coach explained.

Harry McLaughlin-Phillips also trained with the squad throughout the week and was described by Schmidt as “super” in preparation.

The instability at fly-half has been a recurring theme under Schmidt’s tenure. All Blacks great Dan Carter publicly backed Lolesio in December as “the man” to wear the No. 10 jersey at the 2027 Rugby World Cup, but the former Brumbies pivot has been unable to hold down a run of Tests. Lolesio was injured ahead of the Lions Series in July and replaced by Donaldson, who himself has now been sidelined.

“We’d love to have continuity there. It seems a curse of the 10 jersey,” Schmidt reflected. “First year, Noah got some real continuity and I felt if you track that first year, we got some pretty steady progress. Since then, it’s tended to fluctuate as we’ve lost guys, replaced them.”