Harry McLaughlin-Phillips

I like that.

Even Harry McLaughlin Phillips, he was involved.

Got his first cap in the Bledisloe, second Bled, and then he got sent straight there.

I saw him score a try.

So I'm talking about guys like Toby McPherson who came into the Wallaby squad.

Harry McLaughlin-Phillips is another.

And so you've got that situation.

Then you've got the Wallaby squad that was picked and you've got guys who are now not in it, who are not in America.

So I was trying to work out what the purpose of it is.

You've got Ed Med starting.

The A game, but Harry McLaughlin-Phillips on the bench and he was coming off the bench in the test match.

So I'm sort of trying to

Yeah, yeah.

We've gone through Carter Gordon, Ben Donaldson, Declan Meredith and McLaughlin Phillips in the 10 jersey.

That 10 jersey, that's your number seven in the league.

Yeah.

Who's the ten? I think it's Carter Gordon, but he can't seem to stay on the field.

We've gone from Donaldson to McLaughlin Phillips to Meredith.

Like, who is it? Because without that stability, I don't think we can – I don't think we can genuinely go after anyone.

You look at the great All Blacks team with Marshall and Carter.

But

again...

unfortunately tom uh like carter frustratingly for himself hasn't been able to stay in the park long enough in the last what 18 months so just getting those guys and particularly at least one of those guys onto the park and that's no disrespect to donaldson harry mclaughlin phillips or declan meredith who i actually thought was quite good for the most part against the all blacks on the weekend um but i think carter gordon's the guy head and shoulders and if we were able to have a fit tom liner and carter gordon together it's just an option you could run that 10-12 combo would be pretty mouth-watering, I reckon.

Well, let's look at your whole back line.

Well, you've got nothing to lose.

Put Harry McLaughlin Phillips on rendezvous.

Give him some game time on the saddle.

They did the opposite, and they kept Declan Meredith on.

I know you asked Leskis a couple of times around the old guard of Bernard Foley, uh, Kirtley Beal and James O'Connor and, and these guys who are, you know, on the rest up at the moment.

Um, why had they not been considered again, given, uh, Harry McLaughlin Phillips had to come in following Ben Donaldson's injury.

So, look, I think Declan will absolutely go on the spring tour.

Whether things change in the next year, depending on how Foley and O'Connor come back into Super Rugby once more, that could change.

But it's fascinating because they're already saying, look, if I can tap into this market, the great thing is, and everyone's exploring, if you get 1% of the US market, then you're you're swimming in rivers of gold aren't you but it's you know there's going to be guys like Nathan Gray who's part of the US coaching staff Andy Friend's not going to be with them Bruce he signs up to about 40 odd days per year and that can be with the men and the women up in the US and I think you'll join them for the for the November test matches that they're having but That'll be a fascinating test.

Seeing some of the new faces, opportunities for guys like Nick Frost.

We know that people like Kalani Thomas and Harry McLaughlin Phillips are going up.

And the interesting one is, is Kirtley Beal was going to be, when Tom Liner was ruled out, I think earlier in the week, it wasn't, it came out, I think on the Thursday or the Friday that he was out, Tom Liner, but he was actually ruled out earlier in the week.

Yeah.

Um, Harry McLaughlin-Phillips, always, uh, great to acknowledge a player making his Test debut.

Yeah.

Got the, the last seven minutes.

His absence has set the scene for Brumby Meredith's third career start, fresh off a shaky cameo off the bench in the All Blacks Cup, retaining a 50-19 win in Auckland last week.

With Carter Gordon and Tom Liner sidelined by injury, Harry McLaughlin-Phillips is poised for a test debut off the bench as the replacement playmaker.

In some good news, form lock Josh Canham will return from injury to bolster the bench, while Carlo Tisano has also been recalled.

Angus Bell's shift from the starting front row to the pine in a straight swap with Aidan Ross will also provide late-game punch.