{"id":19506,"date":"2025-09-18T12:04:01","date_gmt":"2025-09-18T12:04:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/?p=19506"},"modified":"2025-09-18T12:04:01","modified_gmt":"2025-09-18T12:04:01","slug":"wallabies-scrum-half-gordon-back-fit-for-bledisloe-cup-clashes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/?p=19506","title":{"rendered":"Wallabies scrum-half Gordon back fit for Bledisloe Cup clashes"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>Wallabies scrum-half Jake Gordon has recovered from injury and was on Thursday added to an extended 34-man Australia squad for the the Bledisloe Cup Tests against New Zealand which will round off this year&#8217;s Rugby Championship.<\/p>\n<p>Gordon trained with the Wallabies last week and is the only new name in the squad for the Rugby Championship leaders.<\/p>\n<p>Australia are a bonus point ahead of South Africa and New Zealand in the southern hemisphere championship standings, with Argentina a point further back in a title race that is wide open with two rounds to play.<\/p>\n<p>Lock Nick Frost (tight back) and centre Len Ikitau (knee laceration) remain in the squad despite missing the 28-26 Rugby Championship defeat against Argentina last week in Sydney.<\/p>\n<p>James Slipper is in line to become the first Australian to play 150 Tests if he takes the field against the All Blacks at Eden Park, Auckland, on September 27.<\/p>\n<p>The squad includes veteran fly-half James O&#8217;Connor, who jetted off to England on Monday to join his new club Leicester and will now fly directly to New Zealand to join up with his teammates in Auckland.<\/p>\n<p>Australia are looking to lift the Bledisloe Cup for the first time since 2002 and will face a New Zealand side smarting from a record 43-10 defeat to South Africa in Wellington last week.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;After an intense period, from the British and Irish Lions series, playing in South Africa and here in Australia against Los Pumas, it&#8217;s been ideal for players to take a breath before heading to Auckland,&#8221; said Wallabies coach Joe Schmidt.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;We know that the championship has been incredibly competitive and that we will need to be better than we were last time out to have any chance against a fired-up All Blacks side.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>New Zealand have an outstanding record at Eden Park where they are unbeaten in 51 matches dating back to 1994.<\/p>\n<p>Australia will host the second Bledisloe Cup Test against New Zealand during the final Rugby Championship weekend, in Perth on October 4.<\/p>\n<p>South Africa will play Argentina in Durban on September 27 and at Twickenham on October 4.<\/p>\n<p>Australia squad:<\/p>\n<p>Forwards: Allan Alaalatoa, Angus Bell, Josh Canham, Nick Champion de Crespigny, Nick Frost, Tom Hooper, Fraser McReight, Josh Nasser, Zane Nonggorr, Brandon Paenga-Amosa, Billy Pollard, Tom Robertson, Lukhan Salakaia-Loto, James Slipper, Carlo Tizzano, Taniela Tupou, Rob Valetini, Jeremy Williams, Harry Wilson<\/p>\n<p>Backs: Filipo Daugunu, Tane Edmed, Jake Gordon, Len Ikitau, Max Jorgensen, Andrew Kellaway, Ryan Lonergan, Tom Lynagh, Tate McDermott, James O&#8217;Connor, Hunter Paisami, Harry Potter, Hamish Stewart, Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii, Corey Toole<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Wallabies scrum-half Jake Gordon has recovered from injury and was on Thursday added to an extended 34-man Australia squad for the the Bledisloe Cup Tests against New Zealand which will round off this year&#8217;s Rugby Championship. Gordon trained with the Wallabies last week and is the only new name in the squad for the Rugby [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-19506","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-english-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19506","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=19506"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19506\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=19506"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=19506"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=19506"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}