Back in the squad, three years later
Jordan Petaia is a Wallaby again. Les Kiss named him this morning in the Australia squad for the one-off Test against the Springboks in Perth, ending an international absence that began after the 2023 Rugby World Cup in France.
The 26-year-old has taken a long way round. He left Australian rugby in 2024 chasing an NFL career and trialled with the Los Angeles Chargers. Nothing came of it. Perpignan signed him instead, and he played 12 matches in the Top 14 during the 2024/25 season. He has since moved to Japan Rugby League One side Urayasu D-Rocks.
Petaia was a teenager when he first pulled on the gold jersey, against Uruguay at the 2019 World Cup in Japan. Australian rugby rated him highly then. Kiss is betting that the raw material survived the detour.
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An uncapped fly-half gets his chance
Carter Gordon breaks the other way. A leg fracture rules him out, and Kiss has replaced him with Harry McLaughlin-Phillips, who has never played a Test.
The timing helps. McLaughlin-Phillips started for the Western Force in the Super Rugby AUS opener this past weekend and kicked the winning points against the Queensland Reds, the club he left. He was part of Australia’s U20s squads at the 2023 and 2024 World Rugby U20 Championships, and he sat on the bench through the recent Nations Championship Tests against Ireland, France and Italy.
Reds prop Zane Nonggorr returns from a calf problem, taking the place of Massimo De Lutiis, Wallaby number 1000. Full-back Jock Campbell comes in as well, with Dylan Pietsch still sidelined.
Perth, and a very heavy opponent
Australia arrive off the back of a two-Test series win in Argentina against Los Pumas. South Africa arrive off something bigger: a 3-1 series victory over the All Blacks, sealed 43-28 in Baltimore at the weekend.
Kiss is not pretending the gap has closed. “We’ve learned a bit more about ourselves as a group over the last four Tests, and we know we still have a lot to work on to get to where we want to be,” he said. “South Africa have been the benchmark team in World Rugby for a long time, and we’re motivated by the challenge of meeting them in our own backyard in two weeks’ time.”
The squad assembles in Perth on Friday.
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