Right until the bitter end of his trying 2025 campaign, Wallabies coach Joe Schmidt is being tormented by troubles with his tens -- but the Wallabies coach is adamant there's still a future in the gold-and-green for his discarded flyhalf, James O'Connor.
On the eve of their 15th and final Test of the year against European champions France, Schmidt got one last dispiriting gut-punch over the No.10 position that's given him so many headaches all year as Carter Gordon, his starting five-eighth, was "gutted" to pull out with injury.
It left him having to reshuffle hastily yet again on the eve of the match they must win if they're to avoid a record 10th loss in a calendar year and the first four-Test whitewash of any Wallabies touring side to Europe in 67 years.
Amid a host of injuries and a desperate search to find an on-field controller amid their disintegrating campaign, the constant revolving door of fly-halves charged with shoring up an increasingly leaky vessel -- nine changes in those 15 Tests in all -- has seemed emblematic of the team's uncertain progress.
There also felt a great irony on Friday that just when O'Connor looked the safest pair of hands to replace code-hopper Gordon, he was nowhere to be seen, having been released from camp at the start of the week.
So, instead, Tane Edmed, who's struggled in the Tests, will now take the reins, with Hamish Stewart on the bench.
Captain Harry Wilson reported: "He's gutted -- he's had a tough year, Carter. He's worked so hard since getting to this group, and he just hasn't been able to catch a break, and we all feel devastated for him."
O'Connor's release had felt a puzzling one, especially as Schmidt had only drafted him back in the previous week and praised the freshness and leadership he had provided during the Test week in Dublin following crushing losses to England and Italy.
But after his own disappointing outing against Ireland, he was let go, leaving Wilson to reflect: "If you could have forecasted a late injury like this, James would definitely been around."
After O'Connor's exclusion, Schmidt was also quizzed on whether the 35-year-old still had an international future with the home World Cup looming, and he offered a real vote of confidence.
"I thought Johnny Sexton was outstanding in the lst World Cup at 38 and James won't be as old as Johnny was at that stage, so I think age is probably not one of the numbers that necessarily tips the balance," said Schmidt.
"When James first came in, it was really just to support the younger 10s and help them grow their own game. He was really useful in that regard and then stepped up and showed them how it was done as well.
"So having James in was still really good for Carter and Tane, particularly, to just have him in the opposition, giving them some feedback and then also see the manner in how he ran the team last week."
There was another eve-of-Test blow when hooker Billy Pollard, who's played every Test this year, had to pull out with a hip injury, leaving Matt Faessler to be moved up from the bench while Josh Nasser will feature among the replacements.
Wilson promised one last blistering effort from his "hurting" Wallabies to end on a warming high in what's set to be an icily cold Stade de France.
"People don't see the preparation we put in. We work so hard, training hard, we're doing everything we can to perform in the gold jersey, and it hasn't happened over the last month," he said.
"We haven't put those performances in, so that's why I really, really hope that we go out there and do that this Saturday."