4 November 2025
Hi team, and welcome to another Tuesday’s Rugby News. It’s a busy time of year for rugby fans with the southern hemisphere teams on their annual travels up north to take on the best of the home nations and France. As Bris reported yesterday, the Wallabies had a tough day out against the English at Twickenham, which you can read about here in Sully’s excellent match report, or here in Bris’s summary of the weekend in the Monday news.
It’s Tuesday after a test match, so we’ll get to some player ratings but, before we do we’ll look at some news from Queensland and around the grounds.
Reds add experience to their backline
The Reds media unit reported on Monday that Ben Volavola is set to join the Queenslan Reds for the 2026 season. Volavola is very experienced, having played 38 tests for Fiji and 36 Super Rugby games for the Tahs, Crusaders and Rebels among more than 200 professional games. It’s a homecoming of sorts for Volavola, who was born in Sydney and played senior club rugby at Sunnybank in Brisbane.
Volavola is versatile and can play #10, #12 and #15, and with his experience and pace should be a valuable addition to the Reds in 2026. Yes, the Reds do have a number of flyhalves, however, Lynagh and HMP are young and we can use the cover across the backline.
Wallabies squad update
The Wallabies have called for some reinforcements to join the squad as they head to Udine to take on the Italy this weekend. I had to do some research to find out that Udine is in the far north east of Italy, 20km from Slovenia and 54km from Austria. As with a lot of Europe, the region was overrun by the Germans in the First World War, and was administered as the capital of a short lived province until the Allies captured it during the second world war.
Udine is not a large city (2024 population of 98, 320) but has a rich history and its own university. The major sport is soccer, the city is home to Udinese Calcio who have played in Serie A since the 1995-96 season. It’s a soccer ground, so in the in-goal areas might be smaller, but it looks like the crowd will be close the action and the atmosphere should be fantastic.
As the time of writing, Hooper and Ikitau have been added to the squad, but no confirmation on Will Skelton or James O’Connor.
What do you think G&GRs, can the Wallabies lift and roll the Italians this weekend?
Wallaby watch
It appears that Kalani Thomas is the most likely debutant this tour as everyone else is already capped. Thomas would be Wallaby #995, which has been leading the Between Two Posts guys to guess the name of the player who might become Wallaby #1,000. I’m going with Joe Brial. There might be some other contenders in the front row and half back, but I think Brial might just be the next back rower picked, and he might be in line to be Wallaby #1,000. Being the 1,000th Wallaby is no more important than being the 532nd, or the 856th, but it is novel.
What do you reckon?
Wallabies Player ratings
As usual, in the week after a Wallabies test we’ll do player ratings. As a reminder, these are my ratings, based on watching the game on Saturday and rewatching the mini match on Monday night. There was obviously some commentary on the match review on Sunday, and in the Monday news which I’ve taken into account. As always, we’re using the G&GR scoring system:
10 – A legendary performance to go down in the history books
9 – Outstanding performance: Man of the Match shoo-in
8 – Excellent all-round game
7 – Good game with a few sparkles
6 – Solid performance
5 – Average – a pass mark
4 – Below par
3 – Had a bad game
2 – Tell your story walking pal
1 – A complete joke
0 – Didn’t make it on, or no meaningful involvement.
Japan vs Australia
- Angus Bell – The Bull tried hard all night, and seems to have worked on his scrum technique, but couldn’t dominate around the field and, with the other forwards, was guilty of giving away scrum free kicks and penalties for going early in the scrum. 5
- Billy Pollard – Is looking comfortable with more games in the team. 5
- Taniela Tupou – Taniela is looking more like his former self, with tackles, intent in carries, some presence over the ball and scrummaging. Like Bell, had trouble with the timing and pressure of scrum engagement. 6
- Nick Frost – As with the other starting forwards, Frost gave it everything, and his efforts in the front line and covering were very good. None of the trade mark runs in the loose, but another solid hit out. 6
- Jeremy Williams – Some good defensive lineout efforts and a massive effort to chase a kick from the English. Another good game, with work rate, but maybe we were missing the Skelton or LSL size from the start of the game. 6
- Rob Valetini – At first watching, was a bit quiet but, on second viewing made tough yards and good defensive efforts, including covering tackles across the field. 6
- Fraser McReight – One of the Wallabies best, including 4 turnovers in the second half to keep the Wallabies in the game. Always present and often one of the best in gold. 7
- Harry Wilson – Gave away a couple of early penalties, almost pulled off an amazing 50-22, and tried hard all night. Did spill a catchable ball in contact. 5
- Jake Gordon – Put in another long shift, box kicks were generally good, and none of us fans are sure if the pace of clearance and passing is by direction or Gordon’s doing. As described by Cameron Shepherd on BTP, doesn’t do enough to offer a running threat throughout the game. 4
- Tane Edmed – Was courageous at times, and did some good things, but his inexperience when we were in attack was telling. Needs more time to develop, along with others. 4
- Harry Potter – Was one of Australia’s best and, with his tackle on Earl, and intercept, did a huge amount to keep the Wallabies in the game. Threw an early intercept when we were in good position. 7
- Hunter Paisami – A solid hit out from Paisami, was criticised by some (KARL) for not passing enough, but carried strongly, got over the gain line often, made tackles, and tried to get over the ball at breakdowns. 5
- Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii – After being named player on ground against England last year in the same fixture, was pretty much anonymous this year. Unable to effectively contest the high ball (defensively or attacking), including one occasion where he batted the ball to an opposing player rather than catching it. His least effective game in gold. 3
- Max Jorgensen – Apparently only carried the ball once, and if it is the carry I saw, threw it away on the ground for a turnover. Couldn’t find a way to get involved. 3
- Andrew Kellaway – Caught most of the high balls (and there were plenty) that England kicked his way, tried hard to run the ball back, was well covered by the English defence. Either AK, or Josh Nasser got a key late turnover. 5
- Josh Nasser – Lineout was ok, but scrum turned to custard. may have got a late turnover but, with the rest of the bench, failed to make an impact. 4
- Tom Robertson – T Rob was on early at 51 minutes, but couldn’t match the English bench for intensity and power. 4
- Allan Alaalatoa – Was it his first game back from injury? Great to have the big man back, but the English rolled us once the reserves came on. 4
- Lukhan Salakaia Loto – Not sure what injury he picked up against Japan last week, but the big man was back this week. Was physical, but gets marked down for being part of a bench that got dominated. 4
- Nicholas Champion de Crespigny – NCdC was on for 20 minutes, but the English ran riot during that time. 4
- Ryan Lonergan – Was on at 67 minutes, and his passing was sharp. 5
- Hamish Stewart – Was on at 73 minutes so limited opportunity to impact on the game. Carried well in close to the English line. 5
- Filipo Daugunu – His copybook will be marked down for a kick out on the full. Was on at 67 minutes. 5
What do you think G&GRs, was I too lenient on some of the players, not generous enough for others? Also, who do you think will make the squad for the Italian game this weekend?
That’s a wrap
As always, thanks for making it this far, have a great Tuesday and I look forward to your thoughts in the comments.
A note to AO
I was thinking about how life can imitate sport. I was playing catcher in a baseball game once, and the pitcher suggested that it was poor form for the catcher to throw it back harder than he had thrown it to me. In posting terms, AO, as a favour to a tired internet hack, please don’t write a comment that’s longer than my post today.
