MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Joe Schmidt couldn’t gamble on Liam Wright's fitness for Saturday's second test after the rookie skipper was injured in Australia's series-opening win over Wales.
The veteran coach has only been working with the inexperienced Wallabies test lineup for a couple of weeks, so he decided for the sake of clarity he'd sideline Wright and go to 135-test veteran prop James Slipper to lead the squad.
Australia won the series opener 25-16 but lost first-time captain Wright to a shoulder injury late in the game. It didn't heal in time to be ready for selection.
“Post-match, we thought progress would be quick but once he wasn’t fully fit to be named for training on Tuesday, better to give certainty to the guys who are going to be there,” Schmidt said.
Charlie Cale, the 23-year-old Brumbies backrower, was given his starting debut at No. 8, moving Rob Valetini from the back to the side of the scrum to cover for Wright. The remainder of the starting forward pack and backline was unchanged but Schmidt made multiple changes on the bench, including a potential debut for Queensland hooker Josh Nasser, son of 1991 World Cup-winner Brendan Nasser.
“It’s one of the things that we want to demonstrate — that we’re a squad-orientated group," Schmidt said.
Wales coach Warren Gatland made two injury-enforced changes and two positional changes as his team bids for a drought-breaking, series-leveling victory.
No. 8 Aaron Wainwright and winger Josh Hathaway were ruled out after sustaining hamstring and elbow injuries in Sydney last weekend.
Gatland moved Liam Williams from fullback to wing and recalled Cameron Winnett at No. 15. Taine Plumtree shifted from the blindside flank to No. 8 to replace Wainwright, with James Botham — grandson of legendary cricketer Ian Botham — coming into the starting backrow and Mackenzie Martin called up for the bench.
“We’ve been going through our processes, building on what worked well and sharpening the areas that need improvement,” Gatland said. "We expect Australia to go up another level this weekend and we know we need to as well.
“We want to start well and make sure we are disciplined and accurate. Then it’s about keeping in the arm-wrestle for the duration.”
Wainwright had been in doubt since injuring his hamstring late in the opening test, when the 50-test veteran was among the leaders for the Welsh team with his high work rate and impact with the ball.
Hathaway's elbow injury didn't recover in time for the test, although Liam Williams and prop Gareth Thomas overcame injuries to take their starting places as Wales pushes to end an eight-test losing streak.
The Welsh haven't won a test since the group stage of the Rugby World Cup last year — which included a lopsided win over Australia — and haven't beaten the Wallabies in 12 tests in Australia since 1969.
Gatland and his team are desperate to avoid the Welsh record of 10 consecutive defeats after a bleak Six Nations campaign.
“It is an important game,” assistant coach Rob Howley said. “There is huge disappointment and frustration within the camp. We want to give the best version of ourselves.
“I thought we really did well to come back into the game (first test) at 18-16. We can talk about the experience and the learning, of course we can, but we need to start winning test matches."
Slipper will be standing in as Wallabies captain for the 15th time, including 10 times in 2022.
Lineups:
Australia: Tom Wright, Andrew Kellaway, Josh Flook, Hunter Paisami, Filipo Daugunu, Noah Lolesio, Jake Gordon; Charlie Cale, Fraser McReight, Rob Valetini, Lukhan Salakaia-Loto, Jeremy Williams, Taniela Tupou, Matt Faessler, James Slipper (captain). Reserves: Josh Nasser, Isaac Kailea, Allan Alaalatoa, Angus Blyth, Langi Gleeson, Nic White, Ben Donaldson, Dylan Pietsch.
Wales: Cameron Winnett, Liam Williams, Owen Watkin, Mason Grady, Rio Dyer, Ben Thomas, Ellis Bevan; Taine Plumtree, Tommy Reffell, James Botham, Dafydd Jenkins, Christ Tshiunza, Archie Griffin, Dewi Lake (captain), Gareth Thomas. Reserves: Evan Lloyd, Kemsley Mathias, Harri O’Connor, Cory Hill, Mackenzie Martin, Kieran Hardy, Sam Costelow, Nick Tompkins.
AP rugby: https://apnews.com/hub/rugby
Wales' Josh Hathaway attempts to catch the ball during the rugby international between Australia and Wales in Sydney, Australia, Saturday, July 6, 2024. (AP Photo/Rick Rycroft)
Wales' Ellis Bevan kicks the ball during the rugby international between Australia and Wales in Sydney, Australia, Saturday, July 6, 2024. (AP Photo/Rick Rycroft)
Players react following the first rugby international between Australia and Wales in Sydney, Australia, Saturday, July 6, 2024. Australia defeated Wales 25-16.(AP Photo/Rick Rycroft)
FOREST RANCH, Calif. (AP) — Fire crews worked Tuesday to hold on to the progress made against the largest blaze in California this year ahead of warming temperatures forecast for later this week.
Authorities said containment was 14% and lifted evacuation orders in some communities of Butte County, where the Park Fire started last week before spreading to a neighboring county and scorching an area bigger than Los Angeles. The massive fire continues to burn through rugged, inaccessible terrain with dense vegetation, threatening to spread to two other counties.
“That’s going to be a continued challenge for us moving forward over the next couple of days," said Mark Brunton, an operations section chief with the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.
Cooler weather has helped firefighters stop the blaze's path near some communities like Forest Ranch, where some people began returning to unscathed homes Tuesday.
Christopher and Anita Angeloni have lived in the community of 1,600 for 23 years and have had to evacuate several times due to wildfires, including the 2018 Camp Fire that killed 85 people and decimated the town of Paradise, about 8 miles (13 kilometers) south.
Christopher Angeloni said he constantly worked on creating defensible space around his home and was happy to return home nearly a week after evacuating to see his hard work paid off.
“We were prepared to possibly lose everything,” he said.
Anita Angeloni said it has been a stressful week.
“We have not been sleeping enough, very tense, praying all the time, teary eyes," she said. “But we’re here. We’ll see for how long.”
The Park Fire, now the fifth largest in the state’s recorded history, was one of more than 100 large active wildfires burning in the U.S. on Tuesday. It has scorched nearly 600 square miles (1,551 square kilometers), according to CAL Fire. For comparison, the city of Los Angeles covers about 470 square miles (1,217 square kilometers).
Some blazes were sparked by the weather, with climate change increasing the frequency of lightning strikes as the western U.S. endures blistering heat and bone-dry conditions.
The Park Fire started last Wednesday after authorities say a man pushed a burning car down a ravine in Chico. It has destroyed nearly 200 structures and is threatening thousands more. The suspect, Ronnie Dean Stout II, was charged with arson on Monday. His public defender, Nicole Diamond, said in an email she had no comment.
Some progress against the fire was made after cooler temperatures, more humidity and calmer winds in the last few days helped firefighters reach 14% containment as of Tuesday.
In the small forest community of Cohasset in Butte County, Ron Ward ignored evacuation orders last week and stayed behind with his son to defend his property, seeing Park Fire flames hundreds of feet high approach his family ranch.
He had lost insurance coverage on the property just a month earlier as companies increasingly drop California homeowners due to the growing risk of wildfires in the state.
He said the flames reached within 70 feet (21 meters) of his house. Then they stopped.
“It hit our sprinklers and kind of died down and then went around our property and missed, missed all of our structures,” Ward said. His 100-year-old ranch was saved.
Ward had to be the one to call his bookkeeper and neighbors to tell them their homes were gone.
“They haven’t even been able to get back to look at their homes,” he said, tearing up as he recounted last week's experience to The Associated Press in an interview Monday.
All through Cohasset there were remnants of the devastation, with charred mailboxes and vehicles covered with pink fire retardant dropped by aircraft. The husks of a washer and dryer set were surrounded by burned debris and a blackened motorcycle was propped upright, balancing on rims after its tires melted away.
Evacuation orders were in effect Tuesday on 25 wildfires, according to the National Interagency Fire Center. More than 27,000 wildland firefighters and support personnel are assigned to wildfires that have burned more than 3,200 square miles (8,288 square kilometers) nationwide, the center said.
In Southern California, people in Kern and Tulare counties were ordered to evacuate because of a fire sweeping through the Sequoia National Forest. The Borel Fire scorched through almost the entirety of the historic mining town of Havilah, officials said.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom is scheduled to visit the town of 250 people later Tuesday.
“We’re seeing so many of these iconic places in California . . . being quite literally devastated by these new realities,” Newsom said.
The fires burning throughout the state have overwhelmed California’s firefighting capacity and outside help has started to arrive, officials said. Newsom thanked Texas Gov. Gregg Abbott on Tuesday for sending more than two dozen fire engines to help combat the Park Fire this week.
U.S. Fire Administrator Dr. Lori Moore-Merrell said one-third of U.S. residents live in an area where human activities and wildland vegetation intersect, creating a higher potential for wildfires, according to a statement.
“We question living here for sure,” Ward said of his ranch in Cohasset. But generations have remained since his wife's great-grandfather settled there in 1905, and he isn't the one to leave, he said.
“There's a lot of history here,” Ward said. “So we live on this ranch, and we’re committed to this ranch and preserving the ranch.”
Rodriguez reported from San Francisco. AP writers Eugene Garcia, Tran Nguyen and Rebecca Boone contributed.
The Park Fire burns along Highway 36 near Dales, Calif., Monday, July 29, 2024. (AP Photo/Nic Coury)
Fire crews light a burn operation along Highway 36 to slow the Park Fire near Dales, Calif., Monday, July 29, 2024. (AP Photo/Nic Coury)
A fire crew walks along Highway 32 near Butte Meadows, Calif., Tuesday, July 30, 2024. (AP Photo/Nic Coury)
A helicopter drops water on the Park Fire near Butte Meadows, Calif., Tuesday, July 30, 2024. (AP Photo/Nic Coury)
Andrea Blaylock becomes emotional as she sifts through the charred remains of her home that was destroyed in the Park Fire near Forest Ranch, Calif., Tuesday, July 30, 2024. (AP Photo/Nic Coury)
Fire crews light a burn operation along Highway 36 to slow the Park Fire near Dales, Calif., Monday, July 29, 2024. (AP Photo/Nic Coury)
A firefighter walks by the remains of a home that was destroyed in the Park Fire near Forest Ranch, Calif., Tuesday, July 30, 2024. (AP Photo/Nic Coury)
Ron Ward, 63, and son Ethan, 31, pose for a photo on their ranch in Cohasset Calif., Monday, July 29, 2024. They've been driving around in a off road cart vehicle putting out spot fires and informing their evacuated neighbors that their homes burned down. Firefighters made progress and were helped by improving weather over the weekend in the battle against wildfires covering massive areas in the western United States, but further evacuations have been necessary as thousands of personnel tackle the flames. (AP Photo/Eugene Garcia)
The Park Fire burns along Highway 32 near Butte Meadows, Calif., Sunday, July 28, 2024. (AP Photo/Nic Coury)
A CalFire firefighter cuts smaller trees along Highway 32 to help control the Park Fire near Butte Meadows, Calif., Monday, July 29, 2024. (AP Photo/Nic Coury)
FILE - This photo provided by the Butte County District Attorney shows Ronnie Dean Stout II of Chico, Calif. Stout was charged with arson, for allegedly starting the Park Fire, during his first court appearance Monday, July 29, 2024. (Butte County District Attorney via AP, File)
A Beckwourth Hot Shot cuts trees along Highway 32 to help control the Park Fire near Butte Meadows, Calif., Monday, July 29, 2024. (AP Photo/Nic Coury)
The Park Fire burns near Butte Meadows, Calif., Monday, July 29, 2024. (AP Photo/Nic Coury)
Firefighters put out hot spots from the Park Fire along Highway 32 near Forest Ranch, Calif., Tuesday, July 30, 2024. (AP Photo/Nic Coury)
A firefighter monitors trees burned in the Park Fire along Highway 32 near Forest Ranch, Calif., Tuesday, July 30, 2024. (AP Photo/Nic Coury)
A helicopter carries waters over the Park Fire near Forest Ranch, Calif., Tuesday, July 30, 2024. (AP Photo/Nic Coury)
Firefighters put out hot spots from the Park Fire along Highway 32 near Forest Ranch, Calif., Tuesday, July 30, 2024. (AP Photo/Nic Coury)
