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Jock Campbell has been rewarded for his outstanding Super Rugby form – and resilience – with a return to the Wallabies’ starting side, more than three years after he last wore the gold jersey.
Campbell has been named at fullback in the side to meet Ireland at a sold-out Allianz Stadium on Saturday, with coach Joe Schmidt preferring the 31-year-old to Tom Wright and Max Jorgensen.
The team to take on the Irish is a largely settled one, but in his last month in charge of the Wallabies, Schmidt still opted to throw in a few surprises, with young Brumbies lock Lachie Shaw named on the bench for a probable Test debut, and two-Test Reds lock Josh Canham starting in the second row.
Josh Nasser starts at hooker and Ryan Lonergan will get his run-on debut at halfback, alongside Carter Gordon.
Returning from Exeter, Len Ikitau will start at No.12, but his Chiefs teammate Tom Hooper will come off a strong bench, which also contains Taniela Tupou and Tate McDermott.
Campbell played four Tests under Dave Rennie in 2022, and last played for the Wallabies off the bench in Australia’s dramatic come-from-behind win over Wales in Cardiff in November.
The unassuming Queenslander started the week before against France in Paris, and though he scored a try and played solidly, Campbell was unfairly blamed for the one-point defeat because he missed a tackle on Damian Penaud as the winger scored the try that put the home side ahead.
Campbell was then overlooked by Eddie Jones in 2023, and Schmidt in 2024 and 2025.
By Saturday, Campbell’s break between Test matches will amount to 1316 days, and that puts him 11th on the list for longest breaks between Tests for Wallabies in the modern era.
Wallabies prop Greg Holmes is on top, having endured a break of 2858 days (almost eight years) between Tests from 2007 to 2015, and he’s also fourth after a five-year break between 2016 and 2021.
Players such as Radike Samo, James O’Connor, Quade Cooper, Will Skelton and Matt Giteau also sit above Campbell, and remarkably, George Smith missed the same number of days (1316) as Campbell between his last Test and his infamous third Lions Test return in 2013.
But Campbell sits second on the list if you only count players who stayed in Australia during their wait. While nearly all the top 10 list did stints overseas during those long breaks, only Ben Tune (1344 days between 2003 and 2006) and Campbell stayed at home. Tune lost years to injury, too.
The record for the all-time longest break between Wallabies Test matches belongs to Keith Windon, who played on both sides of World War II. Between 1937 and 1946, the Randwick flanker served in the RAAF and then played his third and last Test after a nine-year break.
Campbell told this masthead last month he never lost hope of making a return to the Wallabies.
“I guess you always have a little bit of doubt. Joe’s good at communicating to the players, so he’s always given good feedback – you feel the connection there,” Campbell said.
“But I guess not being in the group for a little bit and obviously getting on in age, you have those thoughts. But you can only do one thing and that’s get on with it. Keep working hard and keep putting your hand up.”
