The Wallabies will temporarily climb to top spot on the Rugby Championship standings if they defeat Argentina in Townsville on Saturday afternoon.
With each team winning a match during the opening two rounds, the Rugby Championship hangs in the balance ahead of the third weekend of action. Australia stunned reigning world champion South Africa before the Pumas sealed their first victory over the All Blacks at home.
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Australia will also be desperate to stay within the top six on the World Rugby standings, which ensures they will head their pool in the 2027 World Cup.
Seeding for the next edition of the World Cup will happen in early December, so every Test for the Wallabies, currently ranked sixth, until then is crucial.
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Wallabies captain Harry Wilson had “dark fears” that he had suffered a serious knee injury in Australia’s 38-22 Rugby Championship win over South Africa in Johannesburg last month.
What should have been a night to remember for Wilson, who scored two tries in the win, threatened to become a personal disaster when he was forced off the field with a non-contact knee injury.
Thankfully for Wilson, the injury wasn’t as bad as first feared.
While he missed Australia’s 30-22 loss to the Springboks a week later in Cape Town, the star No. 8 has been cleared of structural damage to his knee and will return on Saturday when the Wallabies host Argentina in Townsville.
“It’s great to be back,” Wilson said on Friday.
“(It was) a bit of a scare in Johannesburg, and when you have a non-contact knee injury you have some dark fears there … (but) I’m lucky to just bang a bit of cartilage.
“It was pretty sore for a few days to a week, but it settled really well when I got back to Australia.
“I trained all last week and had a good week’s prep to give me plenty of confidence, which will give me plenty of confidence this weekend.”
With Wilson returning, Rob Valetini will shift to flanker, with Tom Hooper moving from the side of the scrum to lock to fill the void left by Will Skelton, who has returned to his French club La Rochelle.
“Hoops has been awesome for us,” Wilson said.
“You’ve seen every game he’s played this year since getting a golden starting jersey he’s taken it with both hands.
“He’s played a lot of second-row this year for the Brumbies, and he’s played a lot of second-row in his career.
“Obviously, Skelts being out is a loss for us, but Hoops has been playing some great footy.
“He loves the tight stuff, he loves carrying, he loves defending, he loves just being anywhere around the breakdown, so he’ll relish that role in the middle of the field.”
Apart from Wilson, fly half Tom Lynagh will also return on Saturday in the No. 10 jersey after missing the trip to South Africa due to concussion following a head knock he received in Australia’s 22-12 win over the British and Irish Lions last month.
“He looks pretty refreshed, to be honest,” Wilson said of his Queensland teammate Lynagh.
“He’d had a big couple of months there, back in the Super (Pacific Rugby competition) into the Lions series, and the way he stood up in those periods was awesome.
“For such a young fellow, getting a starting debut in some of the biggest matches you could have, he’ll take plenty of confidence from that.
“You can see he’s pretty excited to get back out there, and we can’t wait to have him back out there.”
The Rugby Championship match between Australia and Argentina gets underway 2.45pm AEST.
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