Competition 'red hot' for Wallabies No 9 jersey
Under Dave Rennie's halfback rotation, Jake Gordon will get his start against Italy, the team he made his Test debut against in 2018.
Having previously delivered under pressure against Italy, Wallabies halfback Jake Gordon is relishing another crack in the No.9 jersey.
With coach Dave Rennie rotating Gordon, Nic White and Tate McDermott in the starting side through their five-Test European tour, the NSW skipper gets his turn in Florence on Sunday (AEDT).
The Wallabies are looking to rebound from a last-gasp loss to Six Nations champions France, who scored a try in the dying minutes to snatch a one-point victory.
Australia last played Italy in 2018 in Padua when Gordon, on debut, was surprisingly thrust into the starting role by then-coach Michael Cheika but helped steer the Wallabies to a 26-7 win.
The Wallabies are unbeaten against the Azzurri in 18 matches.
"I'm really excited for the opportunity again Italy; I made my debut here back in 2018 so I have pretty fond memories," Gordon told reporters.
"I thought I'd get a few minutes off the bench but I ended up starting the game ... to get the opportunity and then to have a good win was awesome."
The 29-year-old felt he'd added strings to his bow since that first outing, improving his passing and kicking game as well as his leadership skills after captaining the Waratahs.
Gordon has no qualms about the rotation policy, with Rennie up-front about his indecision on the best fit at halfback for the team for next year's World Cup.
Gordon said he didn't feel any extra pressure that the Italy Test start was a final audition.
"Obviously the competition is pretty red-hot at the moment," Gordon said.
"Tate (against Scotland) and Nic (against France) both played really good games ... that's the luxury that we've got, we've got really good halfbacks in the country who are desperate to play footy.
"I just say see it as another opportunity to play well - I'm not too focused about the rotation and thinking this is my last opportunity."
Who will partner Gordon in the halves will be revealed on Thursday with Bernard Foley at 10 for the opening two Tests.
Rennie forecast personnel changes, saying he wanted to "share the load" through the tour.
Gordon said his history with other five-eighths in the squad, and the way they trained meant the transition was fairly seamless.
"I've played with Donno (Ben Donaldson) the last two or three years, I've played four or five years with Bernard and me and Noah (Lolesio) have started multiple Tests together.
"You get a pretty good feel for guys at training, it's not just the game so you get pretty familiar with the guys."
He said the Wallabies were still hurting from the 30-29 loss to world No.2 France in Paris.
"Everyone's still disappointed by that result since we dominated a lot of the game and put ourselves in a position to win it," Gordon said.
"There were definite positives from that game - the length-of-the-field try, the forward pack did a great job throughout the night, it was just disappointing in that last five minutes we let it slip."
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The difference between Fassi and Le Roux?
Almost 100 tests. Fassi is growing from test to test and is already world class. It’s going to be difficult for Damian Willemse to usurp Fassi at 15 and may find himself destined as the utility back on the bomb squad.
South Africans love hating on their fullback. A proud tradition since Percy Montgomery (before he won us a World Cup). So I don’t pay much mind to the noise that follows anyone who puts on the 15 jersey for SA.
15 is a high risk, low reward position. You don’t dare drop a high ball, certainly don’t shank a kick into the stands. In fact if you’re not kicking 60m torpedoes into the opposition corners - stay at home.
And miss tackles? After everyone else on the team has let a break through - best you not miss!
Only Andre Joubert strikes me as a fullback that has been better than Willie. Yet Willie has been widely panned on a regular basis. Irritating.
Fassi is great. And I’m sure he’s learning a lot from Willie.
Go to commentsNo, Penney's win rate as a Super Rugby coach BEFORE he was given a 2 year contract here, was 23%. He came in with a very poor success rate at SR level.
This loser vibe was borne out over the SR season where we won only 4 games while losing 10. Finishing 9th in a 12 team competition & missing a QF spot was next level DOWN.
There's zero evidence that suggests we will win 10 games (70%) as you predict. I understand there may be new assistant coaches coming on board. At this stage, we can only hope for the best.
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