November Nations Championship will be one of the biggest performance windows for players hoping for 2027 Rugby World Cup squad.
This goes for the Wallabies as well as the rest of the 23 Nations, and while Wallabies coach Les Kiss said it was not the be-all and end-all of the selection, performances in November will definitely be remembered.
“It’s not going to be definitively ‘yes or no, you’re in the World Cup picture’; it definitely puts more of a challenge and more of an edge on things as we go into these last four matches,” Kiss said at his press conference in Sydney before leaving for the UK tour.
“The Super Rugby Pacific will be a more informative thing about how we get there (World Cup squad selection) but we know it’s important to show our goods and prove it now.”
“It doesn’t just happen in 80 minutes; it happens in other areas of preparation and four weeks together gives us a great opportunity to see those things come into play.”
While many of the Wallabies cohort will naturally be rookies Super Rugby Pacific team, no game is ever promised, and every opportunity to perform, as Kiss says, is an opportunity to push for a ticket to the World Cup.
While competition for places is hot across the team, some are born out of a lack of prominence in a particular position, while other competitions are dictated by new blood clashes with established bodies; either way, it will be intriguing viewing.
Here are the three positions that will be hotly contested during the Wallabies’ four Championship Tests in November against England, Scotland, Wales and a mystery fourth opponent.
Loosehead prop
Angus Bell has without a doubt sewn up the No.1 jersey, and with the most capped Wallaby, James Slipper, in Canberra ready to be called up, Kiss and his assistants are looking for a younger man to step up.
So far, this search has proved almost impossible, because no one has turned off the lights in the past two years.
Queensland Red prop Aidan Ross appears to be the latest casualty of the cause after missing out on selection for November after playing several Tests, including the two Bledisloe matches.
Now Kiss has turned to new Reds recruit Tom Lambert and has kept faith with NSW Waratah Isaac Aedo Kaile to back up Bell.
Kiss likes Kailea for his running with the ball and his defensive abrasiveness, but Kiss is fully aware that Kailea’s scrummaging has been poor, although that didn’t stop the coach from picking him.
Lambert was undoubtedly the better scrummager during Super Rugby Pacific in Bell’s absence Waratahs 2026, but his efforts in the recent two Australia-A matches overall left a little to be desired.
Lambert, who has Scottish connections, played for the Wallabies U20s and then spent time in an academy program in Glasgow before returning home to Australia in his bid for a Wallabies jersey.
He is a mobile player who has good work rate and decent tackling skills, but who can become one-dimensional at times with the ball in hand.
Ideally, the Wallabies need a loose prop in Bell’s mould, who has the strength to contend with the best and can make breaks in freedom, but ultimately Kiss and Co are likely to take a very strong scrummager at this point.
ACT Brumbies player Blake Schoupp is a lurking shark in the background, having been named on all ‘unavailable for selection’ lists in 2026 due to a Lisfranc injury sustained before the start of the Test season.
Schoupp is the best scrummager of the Kaile, Lambert, Schoupp trio, but offers less with the ball in hand than either of them.
This is the predicament Kiss and Wallabies scrum coach John Ulugia finds himself in less than a year after the World Cup.
Kiss said Kailea has been working hard behind the scenes while not playing many minutes at all in 2026 despite continued team selection.
Lambert is in his first Kiss-led Wallabies team, and has everything to prove and nothing to lose.
If Lambert’s breakdown comes to the fore and he can step up, he gives himself every chance to replace Bell in the fourth and final game, as well as being firmly involved in World Cup selection considerations.
If Kailea’s catching can match his work on the field, then the Wallabies could have a lethal one-two punch, with Kailea a quick-footed operator just like Bell.
Scrummaging is a major component; look for it, but Kiss likes his power play and will require influence elsewhere than his loose heads. That’s probably why Ross got hit, so it’s going to affect Kiss’ voice as well.
Back
Tom Wright is now a 50-cap Test veteran and you might think his ticket to the World Cup is all but punched, but a very strong new challenger has emerged from relative obscurity.
James Ramm, previously Waratah in his youth and more recently with Northampton Saints in the English Premiership, moved to Perth and Western Force in search of glory at the World Cup.
While many expected his Force teammates Dylan Pietsch or Zac Lomax to make the team, Kiss says Ramm has the attributes he’s looking for.
“Dylan is certainly sitting here in the selection; we just wanted to throw in another No. 15,” Kiss said.
“Jock (Campbell) is moving to Japan during this period it is not available; Mac Grealy, who we know enough about, we had Tom Banks (playing for Montpellier) who we looked at, and obviously James Ramm.”
At 191cm and 97kg, Ramm is only slightly taller than Wright and has been in stellar form for several years for the Saints, as recently as the winter months for Northland in the New Zealand NPC competition.
Both Wright and Ramm are true wing-backs, which is as big an asset in a World Cup squad as they are, allowing only 33 players at any one time.
Where Ramm poses the biggest threat to Wright’s hold on the No.15 jersey is his consistency; Wright has, at times, been accurately criticized for being a stones and diamonds player.
Before his ACL tear in the middle of last year, Wright found his flow and was as consistent as you’d want him to be while also having his game-breaking X-factor.
However, during his time in the jersey, it took time to find that flow again, and while he’s definitely getting there, he hasn’t yet reached his old heights.
To win the World Cup, they say, you have to win seven matches: three pool matches, the round of 16, the quarter-finals, the semi-finals and the big dance.
The Wallabies can get away with winning six and lose their pool match against the team All black peoplebut that does mean the Wallabies have to be consistent and have one of their key spine players at back who is always solid.
Ramm is an exciting player who can do flashy things, but who also offers an element of calm, poise and grandeur; How this competition between him and Wright pushes the pair to improve their games will be fascinating.
There’s no doubt that Rammu will get his chance, so when he does, he needs to show the leadership that Wright now has, while also proving he’s as good for a try or an assist or two a game as Tom is.
Wright is the first choice; Ramm has a chance to shake the cage and demand more from himself and the rest of the back line.
Ramm is not a kid who is there to make up numbers; he is a full-fledged professional who is there to compete, play and win.
Halfback
Ryan Lonergan has the number 9 starting jersey ready… for now.
The strengths that made him selected – his kicking, his passing and his selection of passes – all began to wane in accuracy over the last two Bledisloe Cup Tests, and it cost the Wallabies dearly.
Due to the vertigo at flyhalf, Kiss actively split play-management responsibilities between his half-backs, inside centers and full-backs, but during the August-September period it seemed to be the Ryan Lonergan show.
His ability to pick passes, kick accurately and distribute quickly gave the Wallabies the momentum they desperately needed.
He was also brilliant during the Nations Championship in July, but has tightened his grip on the reins in the following months.
His dip in accuracy in October may just have been a matter of workload, often playing most of the minutes in games in his first real full Test season.
The Wallabies will be desperate for Lonergan to rediscover his edge, or risk walking away with a possible one win and three defeats; that’s how important Lonergan’s game is to the Wallabies.
Now, there are two distinct reasons to focus on Lonergan: firstly, he is head and shoulders above the best right now, and secondly, there is a destabilizing factor among the other half-backs.
While Tate McDermott is the most experienced back by a country mile at Test level, his form has been average at best since tearing his hamstring in mid-2026.
It’s hard work coming back from such a major injury, and McDermott needs a long time to get back on the horse.
The other two halfbacks are Kalani Thomas with the two captains and Teddy Wilson with the young guns.
Kiss brought in Thomas to cover for McDermott as he is expecting his first child soon, which he will be flying home to deliver with his wife.
This leaves a very inexperienced group of players in a key position for the Wallabies.
Wilson is unrestricted, and both he and Thomas are effectively rookies.
While Thomas has a strong all-around game and Wilson’s isn’t far off, with a better running game, it’s just a different sauce at the Test level.
Ball speed is more important; yardage on a hit can dictate whether a hit is successful or disastrous, and a strong running game can be the difference between a gain line ball and a layup.
Thomas has been solid without lights out in his limited opportunities and Wilson has all the potential in the world but, realistically, he is a very young man about to break into rugby on one of the world’s biggest stages.
Waratahs veteran Jake Gordon, Force powerhouse Henry Robertson and, of course, returning Wallaby veteran Nick Phipps will be in the hunt for the golden jersey next year, and it has to be said, in the way McDermott failed to nail down second place behind Lonergan, they are all very likely candidates to replace Ryan.
Lonergan has to find his exact edge again, Thomas has to prove he’s more than a safe pair of hands, and Wilson has perhaps the most exciting opportunity of all: to see if he can translate his club rugby-dominating, Super Rugby Pacific-friendly game to the Test stage.
