Len Ikitau and Tom Hooper have given the Wallabies’ Nations Championship opener an extra selection wrinkle before either of them has even boarded a flight home.
Joe Schmidt’s Australia squad is already carrying a strong development theme, with uncapped names and positional pressure across the pack, but the availability of Exeter Chiefs’ Australian pair could still shape the look of the side that faces Ireland in Sydney on July 4.
Rugby Australia’s latest update makes clear Schmidt is giving both men every chance to be considered after Exeter’s Gallagher PREM final against Northampton. It is not quite a green light, because the Premiership final workload still has to be absorbed, but it is a significant signal that neither player has been treated as an afterthought.
Exeter form keeps the door open
Ikitau and Hooper have not been fringe passengers in Exeter’s run to Twickenham. They have been central to Rob Baxter’s side reaching the final, and that matters for Australia because the Ireland opener is not the kind of Test where Schmidt can afford to treat sharpness as a secondary issue.
Ikitau’s case is particularly important. He was one of the Wallabies’ best players in 2025, and Australia’s midfield picture carries enough moving parts to make his return more than a luxury. Hunter Paisami is working back from a knee issue, while David Feliuai and Isaac Henry have been kept close enough to the squad to underline that Schmidt is protecting himself against late disruption.
That is why this sits neatly alongside the broader selection picture already developing around the Wallabies’ young core for July. Schmidt wants fresh energy, but he also needs a spine of Test-ready decision-makers against an Ireland side that will punish any loose edges.
Hooper gives Australia a different balance
Hooper’s value is slightly different. He gives Australia back-row and second-row flexibility, the kind of hybrid forward profile that becomes more useful when a coach is trying to cover a demanding three-Test block against Ireland, France and Italy.
The recent conversation around Australia’s pack has understandably focused on the big calls at lock, especially after Schmidt backed Lachlan Shaw and Miles Amatosero while leaving Lukhan Salakaia-Loto outside the opening squad. That made the Wallabies lock call feel like one of the clearest markers of where the rebuild is heading.
Hooper adds another layer. He is not simply cover; he is a player who can alter the bench balance, give the lineout another option and help Australia manage the physical load if Schmidt wants to keep some of his younger forwards in the fight without overexposing them too quickly.
Schmidt still has a timing call to make
The complication is the calendar. Exeter’s final comes close enough to the Ireland Test to make recovery, travel and reintegration real factors. Schmidt has already shown he is willing to think pragmatically about availability, with Taniela Tupou’s Top 14 involvement also part of the same wider equation.
That is why the Ikitau-Hooper decision should not be read as a simple question of whether two good players are fit. It is about how much match-hardened quality Australia can carry into the first weekend of a new tournament without compromising preparation.
The same logic has already been visible in the front row, where James Slipper’s Wallabies U-turn has changed the tone of the loosehead debate. Australia are not just naming a July squad; they are stress-testing the depth chart that will matter all the way to a home World Cup.
If Ikitau and Hooper come through Twickenham cleanly, Schmidt’s Ireland selection becomes stronger and more complicated at the same time. For a Wallabies side trying to build substance quickly, that is exactly the kind of problem worth having.
