Wallabies take on dangerous Argentina
The expanding scale of Joe Schmidt’s Wallabies rebuild will be highlighted by Hamish Stewart becoming the 15th debutant of the season against Argentina on Sunday morning – the most Wallabies Test debuts in a year since 1962.
Stewart has been named at inside centre, replacing an injured Hunter Paisami.
Paisami suffered an MCL injury in his knee during the Wallabies’ loss to South Africa in Perth, opening the door for 26-year-old Stewart to be rewarded with a long-awaited Test debut. The Toowoomba-born playmaker has been toiling in Super Rugby for eight seasons after debuting for the Reds as a teenager in 2017.
He played 72 games for Queensland before moving to the Western Force in 2023 and after being part of Wallabies’ squads in the past, and playing for Australia A, Stewart has finally been given his chance to become a Wallaby.
In handing caps to Max Jorgensen and Seru Uru in Perth, Schmidt broke the record for most Wallabies debutants in a single season during the professional era.
But with Stewart becoming the fifteenth debutant of 2024, Schmidt’s Wallabies will equal the teams of 1962, 1947 and 1923 in the most first caps dispensed in a single season.
Read the rest of Iain Payten and Jonathan Drennan’s preview through this link – but while you’re here, check out Argentina’s XV as well:
