{"id":332852,"date":"2023-09-21T20:28:17","date_gmt":"2023-09-21T20:28:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=332852"},"modified":"2023-09-21T21:00:48","modified_gmt":"2023-09-21T21:00:48","slug":"concern-eddies-too-untried-gamble-could-cost-wallabies","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=332852","title":{"rendered":"Concern Eddie's 'too untried' gamble could cost Wallabies"},"content":{"rendered":"

SAINT-ETIENNE:\ufeff<\/strong> All Blacks<\/a> great Andrew Mehrtens has warned of the risks of fielding an untested playmaking combination as Wallabies<\/a> coach Eddie Jones prepares to name Ben Donaldson at No.10 for Monday's (AEST) crucial Rugby World Cup<\/a> clash with Wales in Lyon.<\/p>\n

Jones is expected to hand Donaldson the starting keys ahead of Carter Gordon\ufeff, who had an unhappy night in the historic 22-15 loss to Fiji in Saint-Etienne.<\/a><\/p>\n

That will allow Andrew Kellaway to start at fullback as Australia attempts to avoid a pool stage exit for the first time in the country's proud World Cup history.\ufeff<\/p>\n

Watch all the action from Rugby World Cup 2023 on the home of rugby, Stan Sport.<\/strong><\/em> Every match ad free, live and on demand in 4K UHD<\/strong><\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

\"Ben<\/p>\n

"I'm a big Kellaway fan as well but I think the alternative of having Donaldson at 10 and Kellaway at 15 is too untried at this stage of the tournament, for this kind of a game," Mehrtens, who scored 967 points in 70 Tests, told Stan Sport's Rugby Heaven<\/em>.<\/p>\n

"You need the goalkicking with Donaldson. And I think also you decide that you're probably not going to counterattack much against the Welsh. You probably want to play the game of territory.<\/p>\n

"They've got really good counterattacking players themselves."<\/p>\n

READ MORE:<\/strong> Gun Wallabies rookie ruled out of Rugby World Cup<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

READ MORE:<\/strong> Wounded Wallabies boosted by star's good news<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

READ MORE:<\/strong> 'Hard to fathom': Inconvenient truth for Wallabies<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

\"Disaster<\/p>\n

Jones will confirm his team at 5.30pm AEST on Friday.<\/p>\n

Gordon was hooked after 50 minutes at Stade Geoffroy-Guichard and the Wallabies did perform better when Donaldson took over at five-eighth.<\/p>\n

\ufeffBut former Wallaby Morgan Turinui warned that it could be dangerous to read too much into that second half sample size.<\/p>\n

NEW PODCAST! Fiji beat Australia for the first time in 69 years. Michael Atkinson, Sam Worthington and Tom Decent discuss what's next for the Wallabies<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

https:\/\/omny.fm\/shows\/rugby-world-cup-inside-line\/a-dark-day-for-australian-rugby\/embed?in_playlist=podcast&style=Cover<\/a><\/p>\n

Starting Donaldson at 10 is an extraordinary move given his mediocre Super Rugby season with the Waratahs and his subsequent move to the Force.<\/p>\n

But Jones has backed himself into a corner by leaving experienced pivots Quade Cooper, Bernard Foley and James O'Connor at home.\ufeff<\/p>\n

"The danger there in picking Ben Donaldson, and even an Issak Fines-Leleiwasa and some of those forwards that came off the bench, is that game opened up a little bit," Turinui said.<\/p>\n

\"'Concern'<\/p>\n

"It was when the Wallabies had their strongest period, but sometimes you sort of overvalue what happens at the back end of games.<\/p>\n

"It just changes – the first hour of the game is so much different to the rest of the game. But I wouldn't be surprised if Donaldson starts because it would mean Andrew Kellaway could come in at 15.<\/p>\n

"I think that's a huge positive for the Wallabies. So whatever happens at 10, I'd be happy to see Andrew Kellaway at 15 for the Wallabies."<\/p>\n

\"Andrew<\/p>\n

Wallabies lineout coach Dan Palmer would not confirm \ufeffDonaldson's selection at 10 but did say that "Donno brings a level of composure to that position".<\/p>\n

Kellaway, meanwhile, brought experience and direction.\ufeff<\/p>\n

"He knows the game, he's a leader both on and off the field."<\/p>\n

\"Wallabies<\/p>\n

Donaldson's last Test start at 10 was also against Wales, in a 39-34 win in Cardiff in November.<\/a><\/p>\n

In an astonishing comeback, Australia came from 21 points down in the last 23 minutes.<\/p>\n

Wallabies centre Samu Kerevi \ufeffsaid he had faith in both Gordon and Donaldson.<\/p>\n

\"Eddie<\/p>\n

"Him and Donno have got great heads on their shoulders in terms of playing – obviously not as experienced of playing many years – but the energy they bring and the great ideas they bring for our team," Kerevi said.<\/p>\n

"We just want to explore that more as a backline and really give the those guys on the outside more opportunities to play.<\/p>\n

"I'm just helping direct that in the middle but also that physical presence that I wasn't on the weekend, I need to need to bring this week.\ufeff"<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

SAINT-ETIENNE:\ufeff All Blacks great Andrew Mehrtens has warned of the risks of fielding an untested playmaking combination as Wallabies coach Eddie Jones prepares to name […]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":332854,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/332852"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=332852"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/332852\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":332857,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/332852\/revisions\/332857"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/332854"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=332852"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=332852"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=332852"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}