Porecki gets Wallabies nod to erase Fiji demons
The hooker was named to face Fiji on Sunday in Newcastle in a forward pack that is missing big guns Will Skelton and Rob Valetini, who both have calf injuries.
Waratahs skipper Jake Gordon and Red playmaker Tom Lynagh were also unavailable for selection as they make their way back from injury.
Starting at No.8, Harry Wilson has retained the Wallabies captaincy after leading the side on the northern hemisphere spring tour.
The Wallabies are gearing up for their first Test against the British and Irish Lions in Brisbane on July 19, but are aware Fiji could rock those preparations.
Porecki is one of nine players backing up from their last clash during the 2023 tournament in France, where Fiji posted their first victory over the Wallabies in 69 years, winning 22-15.
He captained Australia in three World Cup matches with the Wallabies bowing out at the pool stage for the first time.
Porecki then missed all of 2024 due to a chronic Achilles issue and then battled a calf problem, but the 32-year-old did enough in the back end of the NSW season to impress Test coach Joe Schmidt.
"The whole squad has worked hard on and off the field and reconnected well with a short runway from our assembly through to the Test on Sunday against Fiji," Schmidt said in a statement."I think the players and the wider management are keen to get underway, especially in front of a big crowd here in Newcastle, as we kick off an exciting but incredibly demanding 2025 Test match schedule."
Porecki will anchor an experienced front row of James Slipper and Allan Alaalatoa, with Jeremy Williams and Nick Frost the locks after five appearances in 2024.
Waratahs No.8 Langi Gleeson will start at blindside flanker with Fraser McReight on the other side of the scrum.
Tate McDermott and Noah Lolesio are the starting halves, while Len Ikitau will link in the centres with Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii, who is playing is first Test in Australia.
Harry Potter in also making his home debut with Max Jorgensen the other wing and fullback Tom Wright rounding out the backline.
Wallabies: James Slipper, David Porecki, Allan Alaalatoa, Nick Frost, Jeremy Williams, Langi Gleeson, Fraser McReight, Harry Wilson (c), Tate McDermott, Noah Lolesio, Max Jorgensen, Len Ikitau, Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii, Harry Potter, Tom Wright . Res: Billy Pollard, Angus Bell, Zane Nonggorr, Tom Hooper, Carlo Tizzano, Nic White, Ben Donaldson, Filipo Daugunu.
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The Advertiser
an hour ago
- The Advertiser
Whingeing Poms: Lions accuse Waratahs of watering pitch
British and Irish Lions coach Andy Farrell has accused the NSW Waratahs of over-watering Allianz Stadium in a sensational postscript to the tourists' sloppy 21-10 escape over the huge underdogs. Farrell was not impressed after watching his Lions fumble and bumble their way to a most unconvincing three-tries-to-two victory over a Waratahs outfit missing several key Wallabies including skipper Jake Gordon and star strike weapons Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii and Max Jorgensen. While he was critical of the side's lack of accuracy and inability to stick to the game plan, Farrell must have known he was creating bigger headlines for suggesting the hosts had doctored the pitch to catch the Lions out and make things messy as a leveller. Despite enjoying 62 per cent of possession and 70 per cent of territory, the panicky Lions came undone with endless handling errors. Farrell made the claim after running into former Lion-turned-Waratahs attack coach Mike Catt after the match. "The pitch was very wet and I was asking Mike Catt after the game and he was laughing," the Englishman said. "But, I mean, that's good tactics from them, isn't it? The ball's slippery, the breakdown's ferocious enough and the line speed is high-octane stuff as well from them. "And we kept on trying to overplay at times. Certainly around halfway and putting ourselves back under pressure and keeping them in the game." Asked if he really meant what he was alleging, Farrell said: "Catty just laughed and we've seen that done plenty of times. I don't know whether the pitch needed watering." Waratahs captain Hugh Sinclair and coach Dan McKellar both made light of Farrell's moaning. Sinclair reminded the Lions boss that Sydney was hit with near cyclonic winds and storm during the week. "See the weather on Tuesday? It was like a cyclone," Sinclair said, as McKellar also dismissed the accusation. "No, no, no, no, no. Yeah, yeah, no, Andy was probably sunning himself in Brisbane on Tuesday, but it wasn't pleasant in Sydney, that's for sure," McKellar said. Probed further by a British journalist if he had watered the pitch, in more of an Ashes-like allegation, McKellar said: "I've got too much to think about to be worried about watering the pitch". After putting more than 50 points on both the Western Force and Queensland Reds in the past week, the Lions' lacklustre display on Saturday night did not impress Farrell one bit ahead of the first Test against the Wallabies in Brisbane on July 19. "There's a bit of frustration there," Farrell said. "Listen, it's nice to get a win but at this stage we're trying to judge the performance and we are a little bit more so disappointed with the amount of possession and territory that we had and how we dealt with certain situations. "It's (not) adjusting to what's been put in in front of us on the run and making sure that we're playing the game that's happening at that moment in time. "So let's congratulate the Warriors as well for the the type of game that they had, that they played etc, but when you have 70 per cent territory and 20 turnovers, that's by far not clinical enough." British and Irish Lions coach Andy Farrell has accused the NSW Waratahs of over-watering Allianz Stadium in a sensational postscript to the tourists' sloppy 21-10 escape over the huge underdogs. Farrell was not impressed after watching his Lions fumble and bumble their way to a most unconvincing three-tries-to-two victory over a Waratahs outfit missing several key Wallabies including skipper Jake Gordon and star strike weapons Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii and Max Jorgensen. While he was critical of the side's lack of accuracy and inability to stick to the game plan, Farrell must have known he was creating bigger headlines for suggesting the hosts had doctored the pitch to catch the Lions out and make things messy as a leveller. Despite enjoying 62 per cent of possession and 70 per cent of territory, the panicky Lions came undone with endless handling errors. Farrell made the claim after running into former Lion-turned-Waratahs attack coach Mike Catt after the match. "The pitch was very wet and I was asking Mike Catt after the game and he was laughing," the Englishman said. "But, I mean, that's good tactics from them, isn't it? The ball's slippery, the breakdown's ferocious enough and the line speed is high-octane stuff as well from them. "And we kept on trying to overplay at times. Certainly around halfway and putting ourselves back under pressure and keeping them in the game." Asked if he really meant what he was alleging, Farrell said: "Catty just laughed and we've seen that done plenty of times. I don't know whether the pitch needed watering." Waratahs captain Hugh Sinclair and coach Dan McKellar both made light of Farrell's moaning. Sinclair reminded the Lions boss that Sydney was hit with near cyclonic winds and storm during the week. "See the weather on Tuesday? It was like a cyclone," Sinclair said, as McKellar also dismissed the accusation. "No, no, no, no, no. Yeah, yeah, no, Andy was probably sunning himself in Brisbane on Tuesday, but it wasn't pleasant in Sydney, that's for sure," McKellar said. Probed further by a British journalist if he had watered the pitch, in more of an Ashes-like allegation, McKellar said: "I've got too much to think about to be worried about watering the pitch". After putting more than 50 points on both the Western Force and Queensland Reds in the past week, the Lions' lacklustre display on Saturday night did not impress Farrell one bit ahead of the first Test against the Wallabies in Brisbane on July 19. "There's a bit of frustration there," Farrell said. "Listen, it's nice to get a win but at this stage we're trying to judge the performance and we are a little bit more so disappointed with the amount of possession and territory that we had and how we dealt with certain situations. "It's (not) adjusting to what's been put in in front of us on the run and making sure that we're playing the game that's happening at that moment in time. "So let's congratulate the Warriors as well for the the type of game that they had, that they played etc, but when you have 70 per cent territory and 20 turnovers, that's by far not clinical enough." British and Irish Lions coach Andy Farrell has accused the NSW Waratahs of over-watering Allianz Stadium in a sensational postscript to the tourists' sloppy 21-10 escape over the huge underdogs. Farrell was not impressed after watching his Lions fumble and bumble their way to a most unconvincing three-tries-to-two victory over a Waratahs outfit missing several key Wallabies including skipper Jake Gordon and star strike weapons Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii and Max Jorgensen. While he was critical of the side's lack of accuracy and inability to stick to the game plan, Farrell must have known he was creating bigger headlines for suggesting the hosts had doctored the pitch to catch the Lions out and make things messy as a leveller. Despite enjoying 62 per cent of possession and 70 per cent of territory, the panicky Lions came undone with endless handling errors. Farrell made the claim after running into former Lion-turned-Waratahs attack coach Mike Catt after the match. "The pitch was very wet and I was asking Mike Catt after the game and he was laughing," the Englishman said. "But, I mean, that's good tactics from them, isn't it? The ball's slippery, the breakdown's ferocious enough and the line speed is high-octane stuff as well from them. "And we kept on trying to overplay at times. Certainly around halfway and putting ourselves back under pressure and keeping them in the game." Asked if he really meant what he was alleging, Farrell said: "Catty just laughed and we've seen that done plenty of times. I don't know whether the pitch needed watering." Waratahs captain Hugh Sinclair and coach Dan McKellar both made light of Farrell's moaning. Sinclair reminded the Lions boss that Sydney was hit with near cyclonic winds and storm during the week. "See the weather on Tuesday? It was like a cyclone," Sinclair said, as McKellar also dismissed the accusation. "No, no, no, no, no. Yeah, yeah, no, Andy was probably sunning himself in Brisbane on Tuesday, but it wasn't pleasant in Sydney, that's for sure," McKellar said. Probed further by a British journalist if he had watered the pitch, in more of an Ashes-like allegation, McKellar said: "I've got too much to think about to be worried about watering the pitch". After putting more than 50 points on both the Western Force and Queensland Reds in the past week, the Lions' lacklustre display on Saturday night did not impress Farrell one bit ahead of the first Test against the Wallabies in Brisbane on July 19. "There's a bit of frustration there," Farrell said. "Listen, it's nice to get a win but at this stage we're trying to judge the performance and we are a little bit more so disappointed with the amount of possession and territory that we had and how we dealt with certain situations. "It's (not) adjusting to what's been put in in front of us on the run and making sure that we're playing the game that's happening at that moment in time. "So let's congratulate the Warriors as well for the the type of game that they had, that they played etc, but when you have 70 per cent territory and 20 turnovers, that's by far not clinical enough."
Perth Now
3 hours ago
- Perth Now
Whingeing Poms: Lions accuse Waratahs of watering pitch
British and Irish Lions coach Andy Farrell has accused the NSW Waratahs of over-watering Allianz Stadium in a sensational postscript to the tourists' sloppy 21-10 escape over the huge underdogs. Farrell was not impressed after watching his Lions fumble and bumble their way to a most unconvincing three-tries-to-two victory over a Waratahs outfit missing several key Wallabies including skipper Jake Gordon and star strike weapons Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii and Max Jorgensen. While he was critical of the side's lack of accuracy and inability to stick to the game plan, Farrell must have known he was creating bigger headlines for suggesting the hosts had doctored the pitch to catch the Lions out and make things messy as a leveller. Despite enjoying 62 per cent of possession and 70 per cent of territory, the panicky Lions came undone with endless handling errors. Farrell made the claim after running into former Lion-turned-Waratahs attack coach Mike Catt after the match. "The pitch was very wet and I was asking Mike Catt after the game and he was laughing," the Englishman said. "But, I mean, that's good tactics from them, isn't it? The ball's slippery, the breakdown's ferocious enough and the line speed is high-octane stuff as well from them. "And we kept on trying to overplay at times. Certainly around halfway and putting ourselves back under pressure and keeping them in the game." Asked if he really meant what he was alleging, Farrell said: "Catty just laughed and we've seen that done plenty of times. I don't know whether the pitch needed watering." Waratahs captain Hugh Sinclair and coach Dan McKellar both made light of Farrell's moaning. Sinclair reminded the Lions boss that Sydney was hit with near cyclonic winds and storm during the week. "See the weather on Tuesday? It was like a cyclone," Sinclair said, as McKellar also dismissed the accusation. "No, no, no, no, no. Yeah, yeah, no, Andy was probably sunning himself in Brisbane on Tuesday, but it wasn't pleasant in Sydney, that's for sure," McKellar said. Probed further by a British journalist if he had watered the pitch, in more of an Ashes-like allegation, McKellar said: "I've got too much to think about to be worried about watering the pitch". After putting more than 50 points on both the Western Force and Queensland Reds in the past week, the Lions' lacklustre display on Saturday night did not impress Farrell one bit ahead of the first Test against the Wallabies in Brisbane on July 19. "There's a bit of frustration there," Farrell said. "Listen, it's nice to get a win but at this stage we're trying to judge the performance and we are a little bit more so disappointed with the amount of possession and territory that we had and how we dealt with certain situations. "It's (not) adjusting to what's been put in in front of us on the run and making sure that we're playing the game that's happening at that moment in time. "So let's congratulate the Warriors as well for the the type of game that they had, that they played etc, but when you have 70 per cent territory and 20 turnovers, that's by far not clinical enough."
The Advertiser
7 hours ago
- The Advertiser
'We showed them': Lion-hearted Waratahs hit back
Stand-in skipper Hugh Sinclair has taken aim at the naysayers after the NSW Waratahs exposed some chinks in the British and Irish Lions' armour in a spirited 21-10 loss to the vaunted tourists in Sydney. Written off by bookmakers and even many of their faithful fans, the understrength Waratahs were given a standing ovation after threatening to pull off a first win over the Lions since 1959 on Saturday night. The gritty showing came after one media outlet penned a piece predicting the Waratahs could suffer a worse defeat than the record-breaking 96-19 loss to the Crusaders in 2002 "Super proud. Super, super proud. The Aussie media had a crack at us thinking we're going to get beat by 90 or 50 or 60 and we showed them," the retiring Sinclair said after deputising for regular captain Jake Gordon, who is in camp with the Wallabies in Newcastle. "I wouldn't mind a bit of positivity from a bit of them for the next couple of weeks. It'd be nice. "Look, we showed up. The boys showed up and we just asked for effort the whole game. "Obviously it was scrappy and the Lions will be disappointed with that but we showed they're beatable. "There are 15 blokes on a field, put some pressure on and, yeah, things can happen." But Andy Farrell's star-studded outfit ultimately survived a major scare to remain unbeaten in three matches in Australia this tour. Unlike in their 54-7 drubbing of the Western Force and 52-12 win over the Queensland Reds on Wednesday night, though, the Lions were anything but convincing. Some of the best of England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales were downright dreadful for much of the contest. With 14 changes, including two debutants, from the side that crushed the Reds four nights ago, the Lions struggled to gel and their attack was clunky. "We got the win in the but still a lot to work on," said Lions scrumhalf and man of the match Alex Mitchell. While Waratahs coach Dan McKellar would have been chuffed with his team's efforts, Farrell could have been excused for pulling his hair out. Some of the blunders from the Lions were comical, with several big-name stars likely playing themselves out of contention for the first Test against Australia in Brisbane on July 19. Like the Western Force and Reds before them, the Waratahs took the fight to the Lions in the first half and only trailed 14-5 at the break after winger Darby Lancaster scored a try he will likely never forget in the 36th minute. The Lions needed 12 minutes to post their first points through a try to Huw Jones before the Welsh centre grabbed a second after the half-hour halftime margin would have been closer had the TMO not overturned a try to Waratahs flanker Charlie Gamble 29 minutes in after lock Fergus Lee-Warner was ruled to have caused obstruction in the preceding lineout. After out-scoring the Force and Reds by a combined 64-0 in the second half, the tourists were expected to again shift up a gear after the interval. Instead, the Waratahs did with hooker Ethan Dobbins finishing off a driving maul to edge the home team to within four points of the hottest of hot favourites. A desperate try-saving tackle from prop Tom Lambert on Lions flanker Josh van der Flier typified the spirit in the Tahs ranks as McKellar's men fought tooth and nail for a famous victory. Defending for their the lives, the Waratahs had the 40,458 fans, including former PM John Howard, believing a fairytale win was on the offing. But just as the Lions appeared anxious and panicky, Waratahs flyhalf Jack Bowen made a meal of a short-arm penalty to gift Farrell's side onto the attack. Lions star Mitchell scored barely a minute later to snuff out the comeback. Still the end 11-point defeat made a mockery of bookmakers offering the Waratahs a 40-point start and will no doubt instil Schmidt and his Wallabies hopefuls plenty of optimism. Stand-in skipper Hugh Sinclair has taken aim at the naysayers after the NSW Waratahs exposed some chinks in the British and Irish Lions' armour in a spirited 21-10 loss to the vaunted tourists in Sydney. Written off by bookmakers and even many of their faithful fans, the understrength Waratahs were given a standing ovation after threatening to pull off a first win over the Lions since 1959 on Saturday night. The gritty showing came after one media outlet penned a piece predicting the Waratahs could suffer a worse defeat than the record-breaking 96-19 loss to the Crusaders in 2002 "Super proud. Super, super proud. The Aussie media had a crack at us thinking we're going to get beat by 90 or 50 or 60 and we showed them," the retiring Sinclair said after deputising for regular captain Jake Gordon, who is in camp with the Wallabies in Newcastle. "I wouldn't mind a bit of positivity from a bit of them for the next couple of weeks. It'd be nice. "Look, we showed up. The boys showed up and we just asked for effort the whole game. "Obviously it was scrappy and the Lions will be disappointed with that but we showed they're beatable. "There are 15 blokes on a field, put some pressure on and, yeah, things can happen." But Andy Farrell's star-studded outfit ultimately survived a major scare to remain unbeaten in three matches in Australia this tour. Unlike in their 54-7 drubbing of the Western Force and 52-12 win over the Queensland Reds on Wednesday night, though, the Lions were anything but convincing. Some of the best of England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales were downright dreadful for much of the contest. With 14 changes, including two debutants, from the side that crushed the Reds four nights ago, the Lions struggled to gel and their attack was clunky. "We got the win in the but still a lot to work on," said Lions scrumhalf and man of the match Alex Mitchell. While Waratahs coach Dan McKellar would have been chuffed with his team's efforts, Farrell could have been excused for pulling his hair out. Some of the blunders from the Lions were comical, with several big-name stars likely playing themselves out of contention for the first Test against Australia in Brisbane on July 19. Like the Western Force and Reds before them, the Waratahs took the fight to the Lions in the first half and only trailed 14-5 at the break after winger Darby Lancaster scored a try he will likely never forget in the 36th minute. The Lions needed 12 minutes to post their first points through a try to Huw Jones before the Welsh centre grabbed a second after the half-hour halftime margin would have been closer had the TMO not overturned a try to Waratahs flanker Charlie Gamble 29 minutes in after lock Fergus Lee-Warner was ruled to have caused obstruction in the preceding lineout. After out-scoring the Force and Reds by a combined 64-0 in the second half, the tourists were expected to again shift up a gear after the interval. Instead, the Waratahs did with hooker Ethan Dobbins finishing off a driving maul to edge the home team to within four points of the hottest of hot favourites. A desperate try-saving tackle from prop Tom Lambert on Lions flanker Josh van der Flier typified the spirit in the Tahs ranks as McKellar's men fought tooth and nail for a famous victory. Defending for their the lives, the Waratahs had the 40,458 fans, including former PM John Howard, believing a fairytale win was on the offing. But just as the Lions appeared anxious and panicky, Waratahs flyhalf Jack Bowen made a meal of a short-arm penalty to gift Farrell's side onto the attack. Lions star Mitchell scored barely a minute later to snuff out the comeback. Still the end 11-point defeat made a mockery of bookmakers offering the Waratahs a 40-point start and will no doubt instil Schmidt and his Wallabies hopefuls plenty of optimism. Stand-in skipper Hugh Sinclair has taken aim at the naysayers after the NSW Waratahs exposed some chinks in the British and Irish Lions' armour in a spirited 21-10 loss to the vaunted tourists in Sydney. Written off by bookmakers and even many of their faithful fans, the understrength Waratahs were given a standing ovation after threatening to pull off a first win over the Lions since 1959 on Saturday night. The gritty showing came after one media outlet penned a piece predicting the Waratahs could suffer a worse defeat than the record-breaking 96-19 loss to the Crusaders in 2002 "Super proud. Super, super proud. The Aussie media had a crack at us thinking we're going to get beat by 90 or 50 or 60 and we showed them," the retiring Sinclair said after deputising for regular captain Jake Gordon, who is in camp with the Wallabies in Newcastle. "I wouldn't mind a bit of positivity from a bit of them for the next couple of weeks. It'd be nice. "Look, we showed up. The boys showed up and we just asked for effort the whole game. "Obviously it was scrappy and the Lions will be disappointed with that but we showed they're beatable. "There are 15 blokes on a field, put some pressure on and, yeah, things can happen." But Andy Farrell's star-studded outfit ultimately survived a major scare to remain unbeaten in three matches in Australia this tour. Unlike in their 54-7 drubbing of the Western Force and 52-12 win over the Queensland Reds on Wednesday night, though, the Lions were anything but convincing. Some of the best of England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales were downright dreadful for much of the contest. With 14 changes, including two debutants, from the side that crushed the Reds four nights ago, the Lions struggled to gel and their attack was clunky. "We got the win in the but still a lot to work on," said Lions scrumhalf and man of the match Alex Mitchell. While Waratahs coach Dan McKellar would have been chuffed with his team's efforts, Farrell could have been excused for pulling his hair out. Some of the blunders from the Lions were comical, with several big-name stars likely playing themselves out of contention for the first Test against Australia in Brisbane on July 19. Like the Western Force and Reds before them, the Waratahs took the fight to the Lions in the first half and only trailed 14-5 at the break after winger Darby Lancaster scored a try he will likely never forget in the 36th minute. The Lions needed 12 minutes to post their first points through a try to Huw Jones before the Welsh centre grabbed a second after the half-hour halftime margin would have been closer had the TMO not overturned a try to Waratahs flanker Charlie Gamble 29 minutes in after lock Fergus Lee-Warner was ruled to have caused obstruction in the preceding lineout. After out-scoring the Force and Reds by a combined 64-0 in the second half, the tourists were expected to again shift up a gear after the interval. Instead, the Waratahs did with hooker Ethan Dobbins finishing off a driving maul to edge the home team to within four points of the hottest of hot favourites. A desperate try-saving tackle from prop Tom Lambert on Lions flanker Josh van der Flier typified the spirit in the Tahs ranks as McKellar's men fought tooth and nail for a famous victory. Defending for their the lives, the Waratahs had the 40,458 fans, including former PM John Howard, believing a fairytale win was on the offing. But just as the Lions appeared anxious and panicky, Waratahs flyhalf Jack Bowen made a meal of a short-arm penalty to gift Farrell's side onto the attack. Lions star Mitchell scored barely a minute later to snuff out the comeback. Still the end 11-point defeat made a mockery of bookmakers offering the Waratahs a 40-point start and will no doubt instil Schmidt and his Wallabies hopefuls plenty of optimism.
