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Veteran Brumbies prop James Slipper is set to come out of international retirement and join the Wallabies in July, following another serious injury to teammate Blake Schoupp and wider fitness concerns in the front-row ranks.
Slipper, the most-capped Wallaby with 151 Tests, has been included in an Australia train-on squad that will gather for a camp in Sydney next week. The Wallabies play three Tests in the Nations Championship in July, against Ireland, France and Italy.
A trimmed-down, 36-man Wallabies’ squad will be named at the end of next week.
Slipper’s inclusion in the initial squad comes eight months after he retired from international rugby, in September in Perth.
The 37-year-old played strongly for the Brumbies this year in Super Rugby Pacific, and after breaking the record for most Super Rugby games (202 games) during the year, Slipper started in the ACT side’s massive qualifying loss to the Hurricanes last week.
Slipper is off contract at the end of 2026 but has said publicly he is keen to play on, and is in talks with the Brumbies and Rugby Australia about extending for another year.
That would open the door for Slipper to play in a record fifth Rugby World Cup next year in Australia, but as recently as last week, the experienced prop had not decided if he would also stick his hand up to play for the Wallabies again.
Injury concerns to a range of props has since seen Slipper answer the call to return, at least on a short-term basis, according to informed sources who are not permitted to speak publicly.
Angus Bell has returned from a sabbatical with Ulster and is set to continue as the Wallabies’ first-choice No.1, but after suffering an ankle injury during his time in Belfast, and having not had an off-season since the end of 2024, Bell’s workload is likely to be managed by Wallabies coach Joe Schmidt.
The leading candidates for other loosehead prop roles in the July squad are also dealing with a range of injuries and/or time in rehabilitation.
Schoupp, the powerful Brumbies prop who played in four games at the 2023 Rugby World Cup, left the field in the qualifying loss to the Hurricanes with a foot injury.
The 28-year-old has had scans and though the full extent of the injury - and his time on the sidelines - is not clear, Schoupp will at least be out of contention for selection next month. It is more rotten luck for Schoupp, who missed the Wallabies’ campaigns in 2024 and 2025 with serious shoulder and achilles tendon injuries respectively.
Force prop Tom Robertson is also dealing with a calf issue that saw him miss the last three rounds of Super Rugby.
Waratahs prop Tom Lambert is also in line for a call-up but a knee injury saw him miss the last month of Super Rugby, meaning he won’t have played for two months by July, and Queensland’s Aidan Ross - who won three caps for the Wallabies last year - also missed a month of rugby with a toe injury before returning for the Reds’ last two games. Isaac Kailea, who played eight Tests in 2024, is another option but he struggled for game time after falling out of favour at the Tahs.
Schmidt has turned to Slipper as a trusted Test prop with experience.
Whether Slipper will continue to play on after the July series remains to be seen. Informed sources said the initial plan for Slipper - if he extended into 2027 and was willing to pull on the gold jersey again - was to likely delay his return until later in the year or even next year, and instead use this season to plug more experience into the other front-row options.
Meanwhile, the Junior Wallabies squad for the upcoming World under 20s Championships in Georgia will be announced on Thursday and, as forecast, is set to contain at least two France-based front rowers for the first time.
Giant Queensland tighthead prop Lehopo Leota will join the squad from his Paris-based club Racing 92, and he’ll be joined by another massive prop from the Reds junior system, Kingbenjamin Swerling-Finaipepe, who plays for the academy for Castres.
