Les Kiss has resisted the temptation to tinker. The Wallabies coach named a 34-player squad on Wednesday for the two-Test tour of Argentina, and the only genuine addition to the group that beat Japan twice is Len Ikitau.
The 2025 John Eales Medallist has recovered from the ankle problem — and minor surgery — that kept him out of the 35-32 win in Osaka and the 56-17 rout in Townsville. Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii, who missed the Townsville Test with a hamstring strain, also returns.
"As coaches we've looked to maintain consistency in selection with the bulk of this squad having laid a solid foundation over the past few weeks, through their hard work and connection on and off the field," Kiss said.
"Touring Argentina presents another tough challenge for us as a new group, and it's one that we know will require us to go to another level as we continue to look to build and develop our game."
The Wallabies play Los Pumas in San Salvador de Jujuy on 30 August and in Mendoza on 6 September. Argentina sit seventh in the world rankings; Australia are eighth, and two wins would likely lift them above the Pumas and put pressure on Scotland and England.
The squad assembles in Sydney on Saturday and flies to Buenos Aires on Sunday.
Two men pay for Ikitau's return. Fullback Jock Campbell, named the Queensland Reds' best player at this week's end-of-season awards, drops out with Ben Donaldson preferred as the utility cover behind Tom Wright. Centre Josh Flook is also left out. Lock Miles Amatosero was not considered as he serves the remaining two games of his suspension for the red card in Osaka.
Massimo De Lutiis keeps his place after scoring on debut as Wallaby number 1000 in Townsville — one of five front-rowers to cross that night. Tom Wright reaches 50 Test caps if he plays both matches. Tom Hooper and Racing 92 prop Taniela Tupou are the two overseas-based players in the group.
The interesting part is what Kiss does with Suaalii now that Campbell and Flook are gone. Isaac Henry's running and second-phase work at outside centre was one of the features of Townsville, and Hunter Paisami has been a wrecking ball at 12 in Ikitau's absence. Before the Japan series Kiss said he was "persisting at number 13 with him at this stage, but I know that he can go to fullback and wing, and that's important to acknowledge as well". The midfield is now three-deep and the wing question has not gone away.
Paisami, who heads to Japan to play his club rugby next season, has framed the congestion as a positive.
"Always hungry and in this environment it's very competitive; we've got some quality centres out there," he told AAP earlier this month. "The more we compete, the better we get as a team."
Kiss has been happy to move players around in his first two Tests — resting Rob Valetini, Allan Alaalatoa and Josh Canham in Townsville, shifting No.8 Harry Wilson into the second row late to get Carlo Tizzano and Fraser McReight on the field together. He bristles slightly at the word attached to it.
"Are they experiments? I think there's a lot of good men in that team that know they can flex into different positions, so I like to think that it's more than just experimentation," he said this week.
"It's just having a real trust and faith that they can do this in different ways, and that we don't lose momentum about what we are and what we do. So I'm not rebutting the word, but I'm just saying I think it's more that we trust that we have a different way that we can use our resources."
Australia have won three straight and scored more than 50 points in two of them. Jujuy, at altitude and in front of a Pumas crowd that has beaten the All Blacks and gone within a score of the Springboks this year, is a different examination entirely.
