O’Connor left in cold

WALLABIES coach Dave Rennie doesn’t think James O’Connor would have the “wheels from fullback” in his return game from injury, so has opted to ease him back into international competition from the bench against Argentina this Saturday.

Rennie also overlooked returning veteran Sean McMahon for selection, choosing instead to hand Rob Leota his first start in the gold jersey for the clash with Argentina.

Having played off the bench in every Wallabies game this Rugby Championship, Reece Hodge joins Leota in being promoted to the starting side for the meeting with the Pumas in Townsville.

He’ll start at fullback in place of Tom Banks, who suffered a fractured arm in last week’s win over South Africa.

Despite looking shaky under the high ball in that victory, Hodge has beaten O’Connor in the race for jersey 15, but the Queensland Reds star will return to the fray via the bench.

It will be O’Connor’s first Wallabies Test since the side last faced Argentina back in

December last year.

“We wanted to bring (O’Connor) in via the bench,” Rennie said. “Hodgey put down a couple of high balls last weekend but outside of that he was excellent.

“There’s no doubt (O’Connor) could play 15, but he won’t give us the wheels of other guys from the back.

“We’ll just see how things pan out over the next couple of weeks but really happy with our selection of Reece.”

While McMahon impressed Rennie with his return to Wallabies camp after a four-year absence, Rennie said Leota’s work ethic and his impressive stint off the bench in the first Springboks game were hard to overlook.

“It’s a really proud moment for Rob and his family to earn his first start in Wallaby gold and we’re all rapt for him,” Rennie said.

“He’s really impressed us with his work ethic on and off the field and worked hard for this opportunity.

“(McMahon) has worked really hard; he’s got himself in good nick. He’ll continue to press for selection next week, but we were pretty keen to reward Rob. He’s been with us full-time so that was a big part of our decision.”

Lachlan Swinton drops out of the side to make way for Leota.

The Wallabies: James Slipper, Folau Fainga’a, Taniela Tupou, Izack Rodda, Matt Philip, Rob Leota, Michael Hooper (c), Rob Valetini, Nic White, Quade Cooper, Marika Koroibete, Samu Kerevi, Len Ikitau, Andrew Kellaway, Reece Hodge. Replacements: Feleti Kaitu’u, Angus Bell, Tom Robertson, Darcy Swain, Pete Samu, Tate McDermott, James O’Connor, Jordan Petaia