Rugby World Cup 2023: Eddie Jones Unveils Wallabies Team For Warm-up Match Against France

Although Eddie Jones has a tendency to embellish, his colorful depiction of World Cup bolter Blake Schoupp was spot on.

Jones has high praise for the young prop, comparing him to a "brick shithouse." The 25-year-old is a muscular front-rower who was snatched up from the Shute Shield and has earned a berth in the Wallabies' World Cup team in under a year.

Schoupp, at 1.80 meters tall and 117 kg (most of which is muscular), has the ideal build for the grueling demands of Test match scrums, but it's not simply his physique that has won over the game's top evaluators.

Wallabies assistant coach Dan Palmer noted, "The most important part was his attitude."

A professional rugby career was something he yearned for greatly.

He's always trying to get better, and the people around him have helped him a lot.

Last year, Palmer was requested to come have a closer look at Schoupp, who at the time was teaching physical education and playing for Southern Districts in the Sydney grade tournament.

Palmer spotted potential in Schoupp, who had been overlooked by the Waratahs, and offered him a tryout with the Brumbies.

In February, he debuted for Super Rugby. After waiting six months, he has been named on the Wallabies' bench for their last World Cup warm-up match against France on Sunday night (0145 AEST Monday) in Paris.

His ascent has been meteoric by any standard, but he's still a young pup, and his finest years are likely ahead of him because he has all the makings of a tight-head loosehead prop.

"Physically, he was essentially ready to go," Palmer remarked after his first time seeing him workout.

Because not everyone had such a foundation, that worked greatly in his favor.

"That kind of gave him a head start coming into our program, and then we could really focus on refining what he was doing technically around the scrum and other areas of the game to get up to speed."

The Wallabies are fortunate to have Schoupp, who could have easily been enticed to league but instead chose to remain with his national team.

He grew up on the New South Wales south coast, where he and his friends played both league and rugby with the Woonona Shamrocks (where Jed Holloway got his start) and the Thirroul Butchers.

Aaron Schoupp, now a center for the Gold Coast Titans, continued playing league after seeing his older brother make his NRL debut for the Bulldogs at a young age.

Despite being granted a scholarship to one of Australia's premier rugby nurseries, Nudgee College in Brisbane, Schoupp opted for rugby.

"From that point on, rugby union was the only option," he declared.

"At a young age when I started to develop as a front rower physically, that was sort of the turning point as well," the player said.

Even though he wasn't immediately presented with other options, he persisted in pursuing his goal, devoting himself to learning the ins and outs of scrummaging.

"At the end of the day, that's everyone's goal in Australian rugby," he said. "I'd be lying if I said I didn't think about it."

It's been a wild year, but I truly believed anything was possible once I was in the Brumbies' system.

Because of my position in the front row, I take great pride in the aspects of the game in which I participate. I play the game with a lot of heart as well. Therefore, I will seize any opportunity that presents itself.

His older brother is a first-grade player for the Shamrocks, and his father won a premiership as a player and coached the Illawarra's representative team; thus, Schoupp's unexpected elevation has forced the family to modify their vacation plans at the last minute.

There were four of them, including Schoupp and his sister, who is younger. "I have a younger sister as well, so there were four of us, and it was pretty chaotic at one stage because we're all pretty close in age," he added.

"The parents are going to join us for some pool time fun. Because Aaron's expectant girlfriend is giving birth to their first child at the beginning of November, he will be unable to get here to celebrate with us.

JONES’ WALLABIES REVOLUTION TAKES SHAPE WITH TWO FRESH FACES

The Wallabies have no chance of losing this match.

Eddie Jones has gotten all his excuses in early this time, undeterred by the mockery he received for his rude crack at the media before departing for Europe.

For this weekend's final World Cup tune-up against France in Paris, Jones has backed a surefire winner by selecting a lineup filled with youth.

Two weeks before their first World Cup encounter against Georgia, the Wallabies' entire team would receive a huge confidence boost if their young side somehow beat Les Bleus, and they have a realistic shot at accomplishing exactly that.

But if they don't win, it's just another meaningless tuneup in the grand scheme of things.

That may be an excuse, but it's the truth. Despite losing all four of their games so far this season, the Wallabies have shown consistent improvement as they have made changes to a lineup that had shown no signs of improving over the previous three years.

Our rugby fitness is rapidly increasing, and we will try to utilize it against France," Jones added. "Increasing our physical capabilities has been a priority."

To face the tournament hosts in front of a packed house at the same stadium where the championship game will be played is an ideal practice for us.

We're a young team with big goals, and we're still honing our skills.

Jones is a born optimist and spin doctor, but he is wise to play his cards close to the vest.

No team has anything to gain by showing their hand too soon; therefore, results from before the World Cup shouldn't be given too much weight.

Jones's most shocking move was naming Will Skelton captain, and the towering lock will take charge of the Wallabies for the first time on Sunday night (01:45 Monday AEST) in Paris.

Jones's squad for the final warm-up is filled with young talent, as he has promised to do in order to inspire a new generation of Wallabies. This group is quite similar to the one that nearly defeated New Zealand earlier this month.

Issak Fines-Leleiwasa, a scrumhalf for Port Douglas, and Blake Schoupp, a young, talented prop whose brother Aaron plays for the Gold Coast Titans in the NRL, are the only two uncapped players on the bench.

Schoupp, who is from the Woonona Shamrocks club in the Illawarra, is one of the team's up-and-comers and is confident in the team's prospects.

The World Cup is the ultimate goal, and Schoupp acknowledged as much, saying, "Obviously you want to win every game as best you can."

If our team performs to its full capacity, we will undoubtedly come out on top. We can only do our part and wait to see what happens if anyone else cares to join in.

Only 258 test caps have been earned by the Wallabies as a team, with almost half of the team having earned fewer than 10.

Suliasi Vunivalu, a former winger for the National Rugby League, will start on the left wing for the first time, with Mark Nawaqanitawase on the right and Andrew Kellaway at fullback, in place of Marika Koroibete, who has been given a week off.

Due to Samu Kerevi's injury, Lalakai Foketi and Jordan Petaia start in the middle of the field.

Vice-captain Tate McDermott and Carter Gordon were retained as the halves pairing for the third match in a row, and Taniela Tupou was given his first start of the year at tighthead prop, both of which are strong indicators that Jones now has a good idea of who he wants to star in the World Cup and the way he wants the team to play.

"Every test we play is important, every test we play, we want to win," Wallabies assistant coach Dan Palmer said.

Even if we haven't been able to achieve a win, you've seen the team improve over the previous few months, and that's something that many international teams this year can say thanks to the World Cup.

This weekend, we'll be working toward the same purpose. Some locations require development. We're putting together a squad with the hopes of winning the World Cup. That was also a major factor in the selection process.

Matthieu Jalibert will start at fly-half for an injured French team after Romain Ntamack was forced to withdraw after rupturing the cruciate ligaments in his left knee during a warm-up.

After beating Fiji last weekend, Les Bleus's coach has selected a nearly full-strength side to take on the Wallabies.

The Wallabies have a decent record against France despite being winless through four games this season.

The two teams have met nine times in the past decade, with the Australians winning six times and losing the other three by a combined total of just three points.