July’s three Nations Championships tests produced mixed results, in the final hurrah for Joe Schmidt, before new coach Les Kiss guided back-to-back wins over Japan to start his tenure.
While there were some incomplete team displays, here are six players who put on performances in the first half of the Nations Championship and in tests against Japan that are worth getting excited about as the Northern Series approaches.
Josh Canham
No single player made a bigger jump in stature than the 2.02m Queensland Reds second row who’d played just 30 minutes of test rugby before July.
He won lineouts with the fingertip control of a basketballer, including a key steal 6m from his own tryline against Ireland. He stepped up his physicality to international standard and looked right at home starting in four tests.
His smile after scoring three tries in the 57-10 win over Italy said it all. No second row in the 127-year history of the Wallabies had scored a hat-trick until Canham.
“Three metres, three tries,” he said wryly. What a pay-off for a second row who knocked back an offer to play in France because, “I’d never forgive myself” for not going all in to win World Cup selection.
Taniela Tupou
The prop with palm trees for legs was the Wallabies most-experienced starter against Japan in Townsville.
It shows where the 72-Test figure is at in his career. He has to be a leader, not always the jovial joker.
New coach Kiss will be delighted that there seemed a real energy around Tupou because he has sputtered at times in recent years. He was used for explosive half-hour bursts from the bench against Ireland, France and Japan, in Osaka, where his presence gave authority to the gold scrum.
When he did start against Japan in Townsville, he crashed over for two tries.
Carter Gordon
Gordon played just chunks of the home tests against Ireland and Japan because of a calf injury. What he showed in that time demonstrated how vital he is to a Wallabies’ rise, in a position in which Schmidt employed eight players at 10.
Gordon was pivotal to the 31-26 lead that the Wallabies held against Ireland before he was forced off. A slick 35m dummy-and-go early on showed he backs himself. He rips a long pass – a talent that set up Dylan Pietsch’s opening try.
Tom Lynagh has played less than 25 minutes of rugby in 2026 because of niggling injuries. His return will definitely add much-needed depth to a key spot.
Fraser McReight
Flanker McReight has now played 44 Tests and has established himself as world class in the tradition of David Wilson, David Pocock, George Smith and Michael Hooper as a Wallabies openside.
His mighty game against France in Brisbane produced a moment that is the emblem of how much these Wallabies are striving for more.
He ran back more than 30m in defence to beat a French back to the ball and save a try, on top of scoring two of his own – and his craft at the breakdown ensured a five-star performance.
Len Ikitau
Those at English club Exeter Chiefs now know why Ikitau was rated so highly at the ACT Brumbies.
He hits like cement with those powerful shoulders of his, and his super-fast hot-shoe shuffle puts him a step away from defenders who think they have him covered.
He is the Wallabies’ entrenched 12 because he has that versatile skillset to add to the game of Joseph-Aukuso Sua’ali’i beside him. Better partnerships like this was something Schmidt did build.
Ikitau’s willingness to pick-and-go in tight with the big boys and his hands in the Jock Campbell try against Ireland are the understated class he brings.
Ryan Lonergan
The scrum-half was one of the least known figures in the Wallabies’ line-up that stepped up in the Nations Championship.
He’d played five times off the bench in 2025, before being given the starting jersey for five tests against Ireland, France, Italy and Japan (two).
His pass accuracy was at the elite end of Super Rugby Pacific. He brought that sharp pass to the Wallabies to add width and speed against Ireland in Sydney. He backed up to score a try to turn Max Jorgensen’s intercept into a 24-12 lead with less than half-an-hour gone in the game.
The Wallabies will rue that Nations Championship opener as the test that got away.
Australia were at their best again a week later with Lonergan at halfback when leading France early on, before they were overwhelmed by a Les Bleus wave in the second half.
Lonergan has an extra arrow to his game. He became the Wallabies’ frontline goalkicker after two late Ben Donaldson misses cost the Wallabies victory over Ireland.
Stay tuned. There is so much more to write about the Wallabies evolving in 2026 with Kiss in charge and the game-play changes he will introduce.
