{"id":59634,"date":"2025-10-23T22:35:43","date_gmt":"2025-10-24T02:35:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/alofokedeportes.com\/en\/sin-categoria\/wallabies-paisami-and-gordon-lead-changes-against-japan-due-to-ikitaus-absence\/"},"modified":"2025-10-23T22:35:43","modified_gmt":"2025-10-24T02:35:43","slug":"wallabies-paisami-and-gordon-lead-changes-against-japan-due-to-ikitaus-absence","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alofokedeportes.com\/en\/rugby\/wallabies-paisami-and-gordon-lead-changes-against-japan-due-to-ikitaus-absence\/","title":{"rendered":"Wallabies: Paisami and Gordon lead changes against Japan due to Ikitau&#8217;s absence"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2>Paisami Seeks to Establish Himself in the Wallabies Against Japan<\/h2>\n\nThe Wallabies center, Hunter Paisami, could be one of the key players looking to cement his place in the starting team, as coach Joe Schmidt prepares several changes for the test against Japan in Tokyo this Saturday.\n\nPaisami is set to replace John Eales Medal winner Len Ikitau at number 12. Ikitau will begin his nine-month stint with English club Exeter, following the 38-0 victory over Harlequins.\n\nThe absence of Ikitau and Will Skelton, along with the retirement of James Slipper, will result in at least four changes in the Australian team that will face the Brave Blossoms.\n\nThis situation represents a golden opportunity for Paisami, who has only been a starter once this season, in the defeat against Argentina in Sydney.\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\"><p>We are eager, we have Hamish (Stewart) and Filipo Daugunu who can cover that number 12 position. It&#8217;s important that we push each other to improve and, hopefully, get more playing time in that position.<\/p><cite>Hunter Paisami<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\nSchmidt could also consider Hamish Stewart in the center, but Stewart&#8217;s performance in Australia A&#8217;s victory over Japan XV suggests that Paisami could be the chosen one.\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/a2.espncdn.com\/combiner\/i?img=%2Fphoto%2F2025%2F1020%2Fr1563244_1296x729_16%2D9.jpg\" alt=\"Hunter Paisami es candidato a su segunda titularidad esta temporada cuando los Wallabies se enfrenten a Jap\u00f3n en Tokio\" title=\"\"><\/figure>\n\n\nStewart could be on the bench as a substitute in midfield or as a fly-half, although Schmidt indicated that Carter Gordon could get a chance after his return.\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\"><p>There&#8217;s a good chance Carter will play against Japan. If we don&#8217;t invest now, we won&#8217;t see benefits in two years, when the home World Cup is a great opportunity to show what we can do in Australia.<\/p><cite>Joe Schmidt<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\nWhile Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii was included in the starting team against England, Schmidt has Tane Edmed available as a fly-half.\n\nRob Valetini is also likely to start, while Carlo Tizzano could get a chance at the number 7 position.\n\nLukhan Salakaia-Loto and Jeremy Williams could replace Skelton, and the return of Andrew Kellaway gives Schmidt more versatility in the back three.\n\nAngus Bell, could be a starter at the number 1 position.\n\nSchmidt will confirm his team on Thursday afternoon for a match that is of great importance to the Australian rugby community.\n\nThis match also represents a challenge, as Australia has much to lose and nothing to gain in terms of world ranking, something crucial for the 2027 World Cup draw in Sydney in December.","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Paisami Seeks to Establish Himself in the Wallabies Against Japan The Wallabies center, Hunter Paisami, could be one of the key players looking to cement his place in the starting team, as coach Joe Schmidt prepares several changes for the test against Japan in Tokyo this Saturday. Paisami is set to replace John Eales Medal [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[40],"tags":[9993,642,890,921],"class_list":{"0":"post-59634","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-rugby","7":"tag-hunter-paisami","8":"tag-japan","9":"tag-joe-schmidt","10":"tag-wallabies"},"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alofokedeportes.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59634","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alofokedeportes.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alofokedeportes.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alofokedeportes.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alofokedeportes.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=59634"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/alofokedeportes.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59634\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alofokedeportes.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=59634"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alofokedeportes.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=59634"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alofokedeportes.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=59634"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}