Wilson backs debutant Meredith to start at fly-half after double injury blow rules out Gordon and Donaldson

Declan Meredith will make his Test debut at fly-half for Australia against France after injuries to Carter Gordon and Ben Donaldson left the Wallabies without two of their three specialist tens ahead of their second home Test of the year.

Captain Harry Wilson acknowledged the disruption but said the squad had rallied around the 27-year-old, who earned his call-up on the back of a breakout Super Rugby season with the ACT Brumbies, starting 14 of 15 matches in 2026. Meredith was originally named as one of three uncapped tens in the squad for the July Nations Championship.

“It’s never ideal to lose two of your three 10s in one week,” Wilson told reporters in Brisbane. “For us, we knew at the start of the week that Carter was no good so it gave Declan a full week to prepare and know that he’s playing, and he’s been really good. None of us really knew Declan before he came in here and he’s been a really good, loud voice and he’s really grabbed it this week and I’m really excited for him.”

Gordon started last weekend against Ireland, with Donaldson providing cover from the bench, but both have since been ruled out. Queensland Reds fullback Jock Campbell will now cover the ten position from the bench, shifting there after making a try-scoring return to Test rugby last Saturday — his first appearance in more than 1,300 days. Tom Wright comes into the starting XV, pushing Campbell to the No. 22 jersey.

Wilson was measured in his assessment of Campbell’s readiness to fill in at fly-half if required. “We’ve got a lot of confidence in Jock… even when he plays 15, he steps into 10 quite a lot and he’s quite a loud voice,” he said. “Obviously he’s played a lot of 15 over his whole career but jumped into 10 and he’s done quite a good job there, finishing the sessions there.”

The match also carries a subplot for the French side, with two Australian-born players in their lineup. Emmanuel Meafou was born in Auckland but grew up in Queensland, attending Ipswich Grammar School, while Thomas Staniforth has been named among the replacements.