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Why James Slipper deserves Wallabies recall after cocaine ban
By Online Editors
Wallabies props Allan Alaalatoa and Scott Sio say reformed loosehead James Slipper has earned the right to play for Australia again.
Slipper has reinvigorated his career at the Brumbies this Super Rugby season after leaving the Queensland Reds last year following two positive cocaine tests.
The 30-year-old has enjoyed a stellar campaign in Canberra, working in tandem with Sio and faces his former club on Saturday in the final round before finals.
Slipper hasn't played for the Wallabies since 2017, but on current form the 86-Test prop is a near certainty to feature at his third World Cup in September.
Sio is fighting Slipper for the Wallabies No.1 jersey but said his teammate deserves to be in the World Cup squad, having served his time for past indiscretions.
"He hadn’t played a lot of rugby the last two years before coming here with the injury in 2017 and a bit of adversity last year," Sio said.
"Unfortunately for Slips it’s something that’s always going to hang around but he’s moved on with his life and he’s put his best foot forward here in Canberra.
"It was great for him to come here and challenge himself in a new environment, after all he went through it could have been easy for him to stay up there in Queensland and just see things out. But he chose to take the tough road and it’s paid off for him this year.
"If you’re playing the best and you’re available you should be up for selection."
Brumbies tighthead Alaalatoa echoed the sentiment and said the front-row rotation between Slipper and Sio helped the club win back the Australian conference this season.
"It’s been huge for us, the rotation, they’ve never had that at the Brumbies, Scotty has always been that No.1 loosehead who has played 70 minutes," Alaalatoa said.
"Slips coming to Canberra has helped him a lot and he’s helped me as a player and the other young props.
"We see the type of footy he’s playing which is probably the best footy I’ve ever seen him play."
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Excellent points Mz. Because of other commitments I have just watched the game.
Interesting watching it after reading all the news reports especially in the English media. I was expecting to see a game that the ABs were very lucky to win. What I saw was a game that England showed their tactical incompetence and their inability to construct any try scoring opportunities.
They can go on deluding themselves that they were unlucky to lose ( as Borthwick said post match ) but until they stop relying on rush defence and goal kicking to win I feel they're doomed to be ranked 4 or 5 in the world.
Can't wait until the weekend to see how the Wallabies go against them
Though I dare say Walter will be hoping for an England win.
Go to commentsIF SA and NZ win then its 1,2,3 SA/NZ/IRL Otherwise as you were. This is largely irrelevant beyond bragging rights.
As I have pointed out elsewhere the practical use of the Rankings is to determine the seedings bands for the RWC draw. The draw takes place early 2026 and hopefully the rankings will be taken from then.
Important to be in the top 6, the top 12. (and likely the top 4).
This is because there are now 6 groups in the RWC 2027.
If you are in top 6 you are in Seeding Band 1. That means none of the other top 6 will be in your group.
Seeding Band 2 are teams from 7-12, who will have a top 6 team but no other 7-12 team.
After England's defeat by NZ there is clear water between NZ in 3rd, France in 4th and England in 5th. England are desperate for top4, ill come back and explain why later.
Lets look at Seeding Band 1 and 6th place. If you make 6th, no top 6 team is in your group, you are top dog. If you win your group, you won't be facing a top 6 team in your 1/8th final, you will be facing a weaker team. If you fail to make 6th place you WILL have a top 6 team in your group and if you don't win your group you WILL (probably) meet a top 6 in the 1/8 final. That's massive.
Its Argentina holding 6th now. Assuming England hold 5th, then its a 4 horse race for 6th. Argentina, Scotland, Italy and ...Australia. (ranked 6,7,8,9)
Australia play the Lions in NH summer 2025 they are running out of time to get up to 6th for their own RWC. They MUST make a move now. They must beat Wales and they really must beat Scotland to gain points and take points off them. Could they surprise England or Ireland? England may be the better bet but Schmidt knows Ireland so well having masterminded their downfall in France.
Another one to watch is Italy V Argentina. Italy are ambitious and they will want to start pushing the likes of Argentina. If they win this they are still in the hunt. Well worth a watch either way.
Top4: I think the top 6 will be seeded, all the way through from the draw. If thats the case then the top 4 will be seeded to avoid each other until the semi. Good for more certainty around ticket sales etc. That's a possible reason why England want in there. You're not in there you are hitting a top 4 team in a QF. That's an extra 50:50 match you can do without and avoid by being top 4.
Lets look at what Seeding bands might look like with todays rankings:
Seeding Band 1
IRE/SA/NZ/FRA/ENG/ARG
Seeding Band 2
SCO/ITA/AUS/FIJ/WAL/GEO
Sample Aussie strongest pool opponent and 1/8th final opponent if in top 6
Strongest pool opponent: FIJI
1/8 final opponent GEORGIA
Prognosis: advance to 1/4 and potentially beyond
Sample Aussie strongest pool opponent and 1/8th final opponent if NOT in top 6
Strongest pool opponent: SOUTH AFRICA
1/8 final opponent NEW ZEALAND
Prognosis: You know the prognosis
I am pretty sure this is not lost on Joe Schmidt?
Keep in mind when enjoying the matches.
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