SYDNEY :The Wallabies released hooker Matt Faessler and centre Hunter Paisami from camp on Wednesday, allowing the pair to return to the Queensland Reds ahead of a match against the British & Irish Lions in Brisbane next week.
The release of test players to play tour matches for their Super Rugby teams has been the subject of some disagreement between Lions management and Rugby Australia.
Although Faessler and Paisami are experienced internationals with 14 and 31 caps respectively, six other Queensland Reds players will stay in camp preparing for Australia’s only warm-up test against Fiji on July 6.
Lions chief executive Ben Calveley on his arrival in Australia this week said that it was tourists’ expectation that Wallabies would be released to ensure the tour matches were competitive.
Australia coach Joe Schmidt responded by pointing out that the Lions traditionally put out a team of “dirt-trackers” made up of players who are unlikely to feature in the tests for some tour matches.
The New Zealander also said there were plenty of players at the Reds who still might make the Wallabies squad for the test series.
“You’ve got a lot of guys there who played for the Wallabies last year and some of them are returning from injury and we wanted them to play anyway,” Schmidt told the Sydney Morning Herald.
“Lukhan Salakaia-Loto played a lot for us last year. Josh Flook and Josh Canham played. Seru Uru played for us. Angus Blyth played.
“Just about every player who will play against the Lions was in our wider squad.”
The Lions face Western Force in Perth on Saturday and play four other tour matches before the first of three tests against the Wallabies on July 19.
Force flyhalf Ben Donaldson, who has been retained in the Wallabies camp, said he would have liked to face the Lions on Saturday.
“We just do what the coaches want. We got the schedule, we come into camp. So there’s four of us Force boys who are here, five still back there,” he told reporters in Sydney.
“Would have been awesome to play, any game you get to play against the Lions team is pretty cool. But like I said, we’re in camp now.”
