Harry Wilson to captain Wallabies amid five changes for Test against Argentina

Backrower Harry Wilson will become the 90th Wallabies captain with coach Joe Schmidt making five changes to his starting line-up for the Argentina Test, as Australia chase their first win of the Rugby Championship. The Wallabies play the first of two Tests against the Pumas in Buenos Aires on Sunday 8am AEST.
Among the changes after two losses to South Africa to open the tournament, Hamish Stewart will make his Test debut and replace injured Queensland teammate Hunter Paisami in the centres. Jake Gordon has regained the No 9 jersey after recovering from a head knock, with Tate McDermott again coming off the bench, linking with Noah Lolesio in the halves.
Prop Taniela Tupou will also start after missing the matches against the Springboks following the death of his father, joining hooker Matt Faessler and loosehead Angus Bell. Nick Frost has also returned after a concussion to partner Lukhan Salakaia-Loto in the second row.
Marika Koroibete, Andrew Kellaway and Tom Wright make up an unchanged back three from the side’s Test in Perth, while the backrow of Wilson, Rob Valetini and Carlo Tizzano has also been retained.
Wilson was overlooked by World Cup coach Eddie Jones and had also fallen out of favour with previous mentor Dave Rennie, but current coach Schmidt said the 24-year-old was a popular choice to become his fourth skipper of the year.
The No 8 took over the captaincy duties following injury to Allan Alaalatoa during their Perth loss to South Africa, with the latter named on the bench. Schmidt said he liked that Wilson, from Gunnedah in country NSW and plays for Queensland, led with his actions.
“Harry’s been really good for us and I think he’s led himself really well,” Schmidt said on Friday morning from Argentina. “He has a natural propensity to express himself well, but with very few words, and I don’t think that we want to be doing too much talking, it’s about the actions that he’s going to deliver and lead from the front effectively.
“We’re pretty happy with the selection amongst the coaching group and even talking to some of the players about who would be best to step up, there was a lot of confidence around Harry.”
Reds hooker Josh Nasser, 24-year-old loosehead prop Isaac Kailea and the experienced Alaalatoa make up the replacement front row, while Ben Donaldson and Max Jorgensen will cover the backline – the latter having made his debut against South Africa a fortnight ago.
The Wallabies, who split their results on their last visit to Argentina in 2022 and lost to the Pumas in Sydney last year, are desperate for a win after two heavy defeats on home turf against South Africa. Argentina shocked fellow World Cup semi-finalists New Zealand in their opening Rugby Championship match before falling in their second in Auckland.
Schmidt said they presented a formidable challenge, especially with the game set to be a hometown farewell for the Pumas’ most capped international Agustin Creevy. With 109 caps, the 39-year-old hooker is the only Argentine to play at four World Cups and also captained the team a record 51 times.
“Expectations are going to be high and the pressure is going to be just as high, particularly in terms of Agustin Creevy’s potentially last game,” Schmidt said. “I’ve coached against him for probably nine or 10 years and he is just such a difficult, combative opponent who fights for everything, so we have a lot of respect.
“Having brought a few different teams here to Argentina, they’re very much emotionally connected as a group and to the support that they can get in the arena.”
Wallabies squad: Angus Bell, Matt Faessler, Taniela Tupou, Nick Frost, Lukhan Salakaia-Loto, Rob Valetini, Carlo Tizzano, Harry Wilson (c), Jake Gordon, Noah Lolesio, Marika Koroibete, Hamish Stewart, Len Ikitau, Andrew Kellaway, Tom Wright. Res: Josh Nasser, Isaac Kailea, Allan Alaalatoa, Jeremy Williams, Langi Gleeson, Tate McDermott, Ben Donaldson, Max Jorgensen.