Marika Koroibete heads a trio of Wallabies who have been added to the AUNZ Invitational XV squad to take on the British and Irish Lions at Adelaide Oval on July 12.
The powerful winger, who won the John Eales Medal as Australia's best player in 2019 and 2022, has been added to the squad alongside back-rower Pete Samu and hooker Brandon Paenga-Amosa.
Koroibete, 32, has been playing for Panasonic Wild Knights in Japan for the past four years. He is a dual-code international who played 63 Tests and scored 20 tries for Australia.
Samu, 33, has played 33 games for the Wallabies, and he is returning to Australia after winning the European Rugby Champions Cup with French side Bordeaux Begles. He has played more than 100 Super Rugby games for the Crusaders and Brumbies, and recently signed a two-year contract with the Waratahs.
Paenga-Amosa, 29, has played 20 Tests for the Wallabies, won the French Top 14 title with Montpellier in 2022, and returned to Australia to play for the Western Force this season. He played in the Force side defeated 54-7 as the Lions played the first game in Australia on this tour.
The first Australians added to Les Kiss' squad follow six New Zealand players who were unveiled earlier in the week, headlined by All Blacks David Havili and Ngani Laumape.
Havili was one of the controversial omissions from All Blacks coach Scott Robertson's squad to face France, the Crusaders skipper set to add a touch of class in the All Blacks midfield.
The other four New Zealand players to be announced are Folau Fakatava, Josh Fusitu'a, Shannon Frizell and Shaun Stevenson.
The AUNZ squad will assemble in Adelaide this weekend to begin preparations for the fixture.
Samu's inclusion will meanwhile rocket him back into contention for a Wallabies call-up after a successful two-season stint in France. The versatile back-rower was a mainstay of the Brumbies forward pack following his switch from the Crusaders, and went on to establish himself as a Test regular under successive Australia coaches Michael Cheika, Dave Rennie and then Eddie Jones.
Koroibete played one Test for the Wallabies last year, in Bledisloe I in Sydney, before picking up an arm injury. Given Wallabies coach Joe Schmidt is flush with options in the outside backs, and his preference is to pick from players based in Australia, Koroibete faces a tougher challenge to crack the Test squad this season.
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