Australia's fly-half crisis has taken another turn, with uncapped Brumbies playmaker Declan Meredith in line to make his Wallabies debut against France at Suncorp Stadium on Saturday after injuries ripped through Joe Schmidt's midfield.
Carter Gordon (calf) and back-rower Tom Hooper (shoulder) were both ruled out of the France and Italy Tests, leaving Schmidt short of options at No.10 barely a week after a 33-31 loss to Ireland in Sydney. Ben Donaldson, who came off the bench in that opener, and the 26-year-old Meredith are the men left standing.
The Ireland defeat still stings. Donaldson missed two late penalty attempts that would have won the match, and Australia's goalkicking has become a running sore. "Ben Donaldson was bold to take those two shots at goal, and credit for that, especially after his snub last year, but he failed in the clutch," read one assessment of the loss.
If Meredith is handed the jersey, it will cap an unlikely journey. Raised in Cairns, he moved to Canberra chasing a Super Rugby contract, finished a teaching degree while warming the bench, and started 14 of 15 games for the Brumbies in 2026 before his call-up.
"It was definitely a daunting week, waiting for that email, but, yeah, very exciting to get my name on there," Meredith said of his selection. He came close to walking away from the sport altogether. "There were definitely times where I thought, 'Oh this dream's over, time to go back home.' That was about 2021, 2022, hit a roadblock and thought that was it."
Family talked him out of it. "I remember getting to the point and talking to my dad and my uncle and thinking I might just come home now, and they convinced me to stay, and it's paid off a lot," he said. He is adamant his path should give hope to others. "Every road's different. I'd like to try to show that there's a pathway anywhere for anyone that wants to have a crack to get to the Wallabies squad, no matter where they come from."
His Brumbies captain and halves partner Ryan Lonergan has watched Meredith adjust to the step up. "We know 'Dex' is under the pump. When you come in as a playmaker for the first time, you've got to get yourself up to speed so you can let other people know what they've got to do in and around their roles," Lonergan said. "He's done really well so far and he's continuing to get his head around it. I've helped him out a few times and the other 10s are really helping him out there."
Assistant coach Tom Donnelly insisted the group is not far off the level required, even in defeat. "We saw on the weekend that in periods of the game we can certainly match it with the world's best, but to beat those world's best teams, just to be more accurate," Donnelly said.
France arrive as Six Nations champions and the world's fourth-ranked side, though they were beaten 34-32 by New Zealand in Christchurch and will be without record-breaking wing Damian Penaud, who limped off with a calf strain after scoring his 41st Test try inside two minutes of that game.
For Schmidt, reaching for an eighth playmaker in 12 months, Saturday in Brisbane is less about experimentation than survival.
