{"id":23489,"date":"2025-08-18T14:20:44","date_gmt":"2025-08-18T12:20:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.gauteng.net\/whats-on-g\/?p=23489"},"modified":"2026-03-12T10:01:13","modified_gmt":"2026-03-12T08:01:13","slug":"wallabies-consider-flying-in-reinforcements","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.gauteng.net\/whats-on-g\/wallabies-consider-flying-in-reinforcements\/","title":{"rendered":"Wallabies Consider Flying in Reinforcements After Fresh Injuries"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>The Wallabies may need to call in additional players from Australia following a spate of injuries during their stunning victory over the Springboks at Ellis Park on Saturday. This was mentioned by coach Joe Schmidt.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Australia achieved a historic win in Johannesburg, a venue where they had triumphed only once in 12 previous attempts. After trailing 22\u20135 at halftime, the Wallabies stormed back in the second half. They scored five unanswered tries to secure a 38\u201322 victory.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-injury-woes-continue\">Injury Woes Continue<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>The team\u2019s injury list has been growing since the British &amp; Irish Lions series. This prompted Schmidt to recall 35-year-old scrumhalf Nic White, who had initially retired during that series.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Late changes were already necessary before the match, with first-choice flyhalf Ben Donaldson sidelined. This led to Tane Edmed being drafted into the squad on the eve of the game. During Saturday\u2019s clash, wing Dylan Pietsch, No. 8 Harry Wilson, and centre Len Ikitau all left the field with injuries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Schmidt revealed that Pietsch suffered a jaw injury following a collision with Springbok captain Siya Kolisi. \u201cHe looks like he\u2019s either badly bruised it or potentially fractured it. We\u2019ll know more after scans,\u201d Schmidt said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Wilson\u2019s injury appeared less severe. \u201cHarry hurt his knee awkwardly while scoring his second try. Hopefully, he\u2019ll be ready for next week. If we do call for reinforcements, it would likely be for a back-three player if Dylan isn\u2019t 100%,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div id=\"gaute-487383318\" class=\"gaute-inbetween-content gaute-entity-placement\" style=\"margin-top: 30px;margin-bottom: 30px;margin-left: auto;margin-right: auto;text-align: center;\"><div class=\"gaute-adlabel\">Advertisement<\/div><script async src=\"\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-1852772760112594\" crossorigin=\"anonymous\"><\/script><ins class=\"adsbygoogle\" style=\"display:block;\" data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-1852772760112594\" \ndata-ad-slot=\"1819787043\" \ndata-ad-format=\"auto\" data-full-width-responsive=\"true\"><\/ins>\n<script> \n(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); \n<\/script>\n<\/div><h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-stepping-up-under-pressure\">Stepping Up Under Pressure<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Despite the disruptions, Schmidt praised the contributions of Edmed and James O\u2019Connor. O&#8217;Connor was drafted into the starting XV due to Donaldson\u2019s injury despite not having played Test rugby since 2022. \u201cO\u2019Connor grew into the game. The Springboks\u2019 intensity rattled him initially, but he managed it well as the match progressed,\u201d Schmidt said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.citizen.co.za\/sport\/rugby\/wallabies-bring-players-australia-injuries-springboks-rugby-championship\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Wallabies bench <\/a>also played a crucial role in maintaining the team\u2019s defensive intensity. Schmidt highlighted young talents like Zane Nonggorr, Angus Bell, Jeremy Williams, Tate McDermott, and Andrew Kellaway. He emphasized their versatility and rugby intelligence. \u201cOur bench did an excellent job supporting the starting XV and sustaining our defensive effort throughout the game,\u201d he noted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>With injuries mounting, Schmidt may soon have to call for reinforcements from home. This will ensure the Wallabies can maintain their momentum in the coming fixtures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Related article: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.gauteng.net\/whats-on-g\/springboks-eye-historic-back-to-back-rugby-championship-wins\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Springboks Eye Historic Back-to-Back Rugby Championship Wins<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Wallabies may need to call in additional players from Australia following a spate of injuries during their stunning victory over the Springboks at Ellis Park on Saturday. This was mentioned by coach Joe Schmidt. Australia achieved a historic win in Johannesburg, a venue where they had triumphed only once in 12 previous attempts. After<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":23491,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rank_math_focus_keyword":"","rank_math_title":"","rank_math_description":"The Wallabies may need to call in additional players from Australia following a spate of injuries during their stunning victory over the Springboks at Ellis...","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[3174,415,873,10695],"class_list":{"0":"post-23489","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-uncategorized","8":"tag-rugby-championship","9":"tag-sa-rugby","10":"tag-springboks","11":"tag-wallabies"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gauteng.net\/whats-on-g\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23489","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gauteng.net\/whats-on-g\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gauteng.net\/whats-on-g\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gauteng.net\/whats-on-g\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gauteng.net\/whats-on-g\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=23489"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.gauteng.net\/whats-on-g\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23489\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":23526,"href":"https:\/\/www.gauteng.net\/whats-on-g\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23489\/revisions\/23526"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gauteng.net\/whats-on-g\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/23491"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gauteng.net\/whats-on-g\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23489"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gauteng.net\/whats-on-g\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23489"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gauteng.net\/whats-on-g\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23489"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}