MELBOURNE :Marika Koroibete says his time in Wallabies gold is over after 63 tests and 20 tries for Australia as coach Joe Schmidt moves on with other wingers.
The Japan-based 33-year-old, who won the John Eales Medal twice as Australia’s best test player, was in Schmidt’s Rugby Championship squad last year but opted out of the season-ending tour of Europe and has been overlooked since.
“I think I’m done with the Wallabies. They’ve got a lot of young outside backs coming up and they’re building for the World Cup as well,” the Fiji-born winger said in Brisbane on Friday.
“It’s exciting to see the Wallabies grow and reach their potential and hopefully get the World Cup home in the next two years.”
A former Fiji rugby league international, Koroibete switched to union in 2016 and found instant success, earning selection in Michael Cheika’s squad and a test debut against Argentina the following year.
He played at the 2019 World Cup under Cheika and the 2023 tournament in France where Eddie Jones’s side crashed out of the pool phase.
While Koroibete will play for his Panasonic Wild Knights team against the Queensland Reds at Ballymore on Saturday, the Wallabies will meet Jones’s Japan in Tokyo.
Schmidt named Corey Toole and Dylan Pietsch as his starting wingers for the Japan test, while including centre/winger Filipo Daugunu in the reserves.
He has plenty of other outside backs jostling for positions in his back three including Harry Potter and Andrew Kellaway.
“There’s great talent there and there’s a good future for Australia,” said Koroibete.
