Wallabies coach Dave Rennie says he wants a more settled look to his squad in 2022 as preparations for the Rugby World Cup in France start to ramp up.
Australia are priced at 10/1 to win the World Cup in 2023 and Rennie is looking to put together a squad that can challenge for the Webb Ellis Cup and bring it home for the first time in 25 years.
Newcomers galore
After taking over from Michael Cheika in 2020 Rennie has been keen to check out as many players as possible and has handed Test debuts to 20 players in an attempt to blood new talent.
Now the plan is to go with a more settled squad in 2022 with the Wallabies set to play as many as 15 Tests this year, including the northern hemisphere spring tour in November.
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"I’d expect us to have a more settled look around the squad because we’ve got a lot of knowledge and we’ve got a lot of confidence in the guys we’re using," Rennie told reporters. "But they’ve got to perform and, if they do that, hopefully they can build on what they’ve done so far.
"But we’re certainly not going to close the door on anyone jumping out of the pack. The door’s always open. If someone emerges from left field, they’ll be rewarded."
No guarantees
Rennie is aware that you need experience to win a World Cup but says the older players will still need to prove their worth and earn the right to play.
"Just because you’ve been around a long time doesn’t guarantee you being part of a World Cup." Rennie added.
"And what we’ve being doing over the last couple of years is picking some young men who hopefully by the time they go to a World Cup have got 40 Test caps under them, or maybe more."
