‘Definitely a risk’: Schmidt names rookie skipper and 13 new starters for tricky Japan clash

Wallabies coach Joe Schmidt has conceded the risk in making 13 changes to his starting side – and appointing a new skipper with just 72 minutes of Test rugby experience – for the tricky clash with Eddie Jones’ Japan on Saturday in Tokyo.

But the decision to make such a drastic overhaul, in which multiple stars like Fraser McReight, Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii and Max Jorgensen were rested, was driven by a desire to not run out of petrol next month, at the end of a gruelling five-Test spring tour, Schmidt explained.

“It’s just trying to get everyone to the finish line,” Schmidt said.

Schmidt indicated last week he was looking at resting some of the players who have played big minutes this year but the vast scale of the changes, and the identity of his new captain, still came as a shock on Thursday.

Force flanker Nick Champion de Crespigny was named the new skipper in only his third Test, after he debuted for the Wallabies in July against the Lions.

The 29-year-old Canberran returned from French club rugby late last year to try to crack the Test side, and only made his debut in Super Rugby earlier this year.

With usual captain Harry Wilson named on the bench, Schmidt overlooked state captains in Jake Gordon and Jeremy Williams and gave the job to de Crespigny. The flanker doesn’t have any experience of captaincy in professional rugby but is in the Wallabies’ leadership group, and Schmidt said he’d opted to let Gordon and Williams focus on their in-game leadership duties.

“He [de Crespigny] is part of the leadership group, so it was a natural enough progression for him, particularly in the context that Jeremy Williams and Lukhan Salakaia-Loto will be leading the line-out and Jake and Tane will be running the team. I think Nick is very much a leader by actions, and he will want to be in the thick of the action as much as he can be,” Schmidt said.

With the Wallabies at the start of a spring tour that will see them play five Tests in 30 days, it was always likely that Schmidt would rest key men in one of the five, and that was determined to be Japan.

The Wallabies also meet, in order, England, Italy, Ireland and France.

But even though the Jones-led side are ranked No.13 in the world, the all-change nature of Schmidt’s selections prompted nervous gulps from Wallabies fans.

Gordon and Edmed are the only two survivors from the run-on side who last played in Perth.

With Len Ikitau now at Exeter and unavailable, and Suaalii rested, the new centre pairing will be Hunter Paisami and Josh Flook, who have only played one Test each this year.

Andrew Kellaway and Dylan Pietsch are both back from injury, and Corey Toole has also won a recall after being left out against the All Blacks in Perth.

Up front, the usual reserve front row will start – with Zane Nonggorr making his run-on debut – and Salakaia-Loto and Carlo Tizzano will also get rare starts. On the bench, one-Test All Black Aidan Ross has a chance to make his Wallabies debut.

Asked if there was a danger in making so many changes against a Japan side that only narrowly lost to Fiji recently, Schmidt said: “There’s definitely a risk. I guess part of the job of the coaching staff is to manage risk as best we can.

“If we don’t give opportunity to the squad then we start to lose that energy toward the end of a five-Test window where, particularly when you’re travelling such long distances and jumping time zones, fatigue becomes pretty apparent within two or three weeks let alone five consecutive weeks, and let alone on the back of 10 Test matches that we’ve had already [this year].

“So combining those things together, we have massive respect for Japan. They’ve come very close to beating teams, and have beaten bigger teams than us in the past, so you know we are very conscious of that.

“That’s going to be a challenge for the players who are selected.”

Schmidt later said resting Suaalii – along with Alaalatoa, Taniela Tupou, Nick Frost, McReight, Harry Potter and Jorgensen – was about “energy management” after an intense year against the Lions, and in the Rugby Championship.

“I know last year by the time we got to the second half of the Irish Test match, players were willing but energy levels were just starting to taper a little bit,” he said.

Asked if there was a chance Jones could be licking his lips at the Wallabies naming a second-string side, with a rookie captain, Salakaia-Loto bristled.

“The boys are excited. I don’t know where the whole second-string thing is coming from ... at the end of the day, we’re just worrying about ourselves and what we’ve got to do ... so I guess anything outside noise is irrelevant to us,” he said.

“If you were to call Nick Champion de Crespigny second-string, I’d run fast if you said that to him. “We’re just excited to play this week, a lot of boys getting some game time after some time out.”