James Slipper has reversed the retirement he marked with a guard of honour less than a year ago, and the 37-year-old prop is no longer ruling out a record-breaking fifth Rugby World Cup on home soil in 2027.
Australia's most-capped player walked away from Test rugby after the 2025 Rugby Championship in Perth. This week he was back in camp with the Wallabies in Sydney, having answered an SOS call from outgoing coach Joe Schmidt amid a front-row injury crisis. Slipper has declared himself available for all three of Australia's July Nations Championship Tests, and possibly a good deal more.
"At this stage, just for the July series and then, a few things again working out behind the scenes," Slipper told reporters when asked about his availability into 2027. "If there's a reason for me to be available for the World Cup, then I'll put my hand up, but a couple of things need to happen there. I need to earn that. I need to be playing well, and I've got to be a better option than other loosies in the country at the time."
Returning to the squad, he admitted, "genuinely felt like I was at my first day of school again." The numbers around his comeback are extraordinary. Slipper sits on 151 Test caps. Should he play all three July Tests against Ireland, France and Italy, he will move past All Blacks lock Sam Whitelock into second on rugby's all-time appearance list. Carry on to the 2027 World Cup and he could overhaul Wales great Alun Wyn Jones' record of 170 caps, while becoming the first Australian to appear at five World Cups.
If anyone expects a 37-year-old to treat age as a barrier, Slipper is not that player. "Age is really irrelevant at a World Cup, you look at the South Africans, they got plenty of thirty-five-year-olds plus," he said. He insists the decision was driven by form, not sentiment: "I probably surprised myself a little bit with how well I played this year," and, "I've always wanted to put the Wallaby jersey first, like whatever's best for that."
The catalyst was a loosehead shortage. Angus Bell is on sabbatical with Ulster in Ireland, while Tom Robertson, Tom Lambert and Brumbies prop Blake Schoupp have all been hit by injury, leaving Schmidt to call his veteran fortnightly through the Super Rugby season before asking him to come back in.
There is also the matter of the send-off. Slipper's emotional farewell last year is part of the reason he is uneasy about the whole episode. "I don't like being the centre of attention most of the time so the thought of making everyone go through that and then it's a bit of a waste is a bit... sits uneasy with me a little bit," he said. "But if I do come back and manage to play another game, I don't want another send-off like that. I feel like I've had my one go, and players only deserve one."
Not everyone sees the recall as a feel-good story. Former Wallaby Justin Harrison argued on Stan Sport's Rugby Heaven that leaning on a 37-year-old reflects poorly on the production line beneath him. "The indictment on Australian rugby is that James Slipper - we love him and he's playing good rugby - is that someone hasn't taken his position and really made it their own. That's the indictment," Harrison said.
Rugby Australia, at least, says it is addressing the depth problem, confirming Schmidt will stay on to help coach an Australia A side alongside Stephen Larkham and Simon Cron once he hands the Wallabies to Les Kiss after July. "With the home World Cup firmly on the horizon, building genuine depth is one of our key priorities and this campaign will allow us to do exactly that," RA high performance director Peter Horne said.
Australia open the inaugural Nations Championship against Ireland in front of a sold-out Allianz Stadium in Sydney on 4 July, before meeting France in Brisbane and Italy in Perth.
