BRISBANE -- The Wallabies' early-season injury curse has continued, forcing coach Joe Schmidt to name a vastly different team to face the British & Irish Lions than the one he will have drawn up a few weeks ago.
Schmidt on Thursday confirmed his team for the first Test in Brisbane on Saturday night, a matchday 23 that is without first-choice players Rob Valetini and Noah Lolesio, so too experienced lock Will Skelton and in-form back-rower Langi Gleeson.
Gleeson was the latest player to go down this campaign, the Waratahs No. 8 picking up a minor cork at training this week.
While flagged by ESPN last week, Valetini's absence from the first Test in particular is a hammer blow for the Wallabies. The Brumbies back-rower has won the John Eales Medal as Australia's best player the past two years and didn't play against Fiji a fortnight when he was sorely missed in the second half.
Still, Schmidt did his best to downplay Valetini's absence and said both he and lock Will Skelton would be right to go for the second Test in Melbourne.
"Yeah, it's funny, you know, you put a training team together and all the boys are looking at my and Bobby's team just to see if they've got a better chance of starting, because Bobby has been a very regular starter for us and a big player for us," Schmidt said when asked if Valetini's absence was a big loss.
"Those are the things that do happen. I thought Langi went well against the Fijians. Again, Langi, he was on the cusp as well. He's just got a little bit of a cork. And so it's a great opportunity for Nick Champion de Crespigny, who's trained well, had a good Super Rugby season and is very excited about the opportunity he has."
Champion de Crespigny has seemingly come from nowhere to make his Test debut on the biggest stage outside of a Rugby World Cup final, capping a meteoric rise for the Force back-rower after he was forced to head to France to land his first professional opportunity.
And he will be joined in the starting side by Queensland Reds youngster Tom Lynagh, who in just his fourth Test and first run-on start has been charged with steering the Wallabies around the paddock.
Lynagh did not play in Australia's 21-18 win over Fiji a fortnight ago, but he has been preferred in the starting side ahead of Ben Donaldson following Lolesio's neck injury. Waratahs captain Jake Gordon returns from injury to start at No. 9 alongside Lynagh.
The son of Wallabies great Michael Lynagh, the 22-year-old England-raised playmaker has battled injury and head knocks of his own the past two years. But he has an astute kicking game and is defensively tough, which is one of the reasons why Schmidt has thrown him in at the deep end in Brisbane.
Lynagh's goal-kicking, in particular, was an asset for the Reds this season as he finished with a tournament-leading 87.9% success rate at the end of the regular season. That stat was tempered by the fact that the Reds refused to take penalty goals until the penultimate round of the competition.
"I'm really excited for Tom. He's a great kid. He's got a quiet confidence about him. You wouldn't think that he's necessarily designed to run a game and dictate what's happening, but he does have a quiet confidence that gives us a quiet confidence as well," Schmidt said on Thursday afternoon.
"And he's fitted in really well this week. He has given us the confidence, and the players the confidence, that he's going to run the game really well for us. His kicking game is strong. He's got good acceleration and he's incredibly brave to a fault."
Elsewhere, Schmidt has stuck with the same midfield and outside back combinations he used in Newcastle, where wingers Harry Potter and Max Jorgensen were both able to find space out wide.
Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii will meanwhile be looking for more impact than he had against the Fijians as he once again lines up alongside Len Ikitau in the Wallabies centres.
Up front, veteran James Slipper has retained his starting spot at loosehead prop ahead of Waratahs star Angus Bell, Australia's most capped player packing down alongside Allan Alaalatoa and hooker Matt Faessler.
"Yeah, it's a good question. I think Slips has had a really good season," Schmidt said. "And I do think that we're going to need something off the bench for sure. And Belly, I think he will give us real energy and real bite off the bench.
"So if he fulfils that role this week, it may not be the same next week. I do think we've got two guys who can fill that number one jersey really well."
Nick Frost and Jeremy Williams have been retained as the Wallabies' lock pairing, while Harry Wilson captains Australia once more despite not being declared as the team's permanent leader by Schmidt.
Meanwhile, Filipo Daugunu and Taniela Tupou have been released to play for the First Nations-Pasifika XV that will face the Lions in Melbourne on Tuesday night.
WALLABIES TEAM FOR FIRST TEST: Tom Wright, Max Jorgensen, Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii, Len Ikitau, Harry Potter, Tom Lynagh, Jake Gordon; Harry Wilson [c], Fraser McReight, Nick Champion de Crespigny, Jeremy Williams, Nick Frost, Allan Alaalatoa, Matt Faessler, James Slipper. Replacements: Billy Pollard, Angus Bell, Tom Robertson, Tom Hooper, Carlo Tizzano, Tate McDermott, Ben Donaldson, Andrew Kellaway.