'Concern' for Wallabies wonderkid's tough debut as former star questions logic of bench selection

Former Wallabies outside back Cameron Shepherd has expressed concern over Max Jorgensen's impending Test debut against the Springboks on Saturday.

Jorgensen, the uber-talented 19-year-old from the Waratahs, is set to emulate father Peter in playing for the Wallabies after being named on Australia's bench for the Rugby Championship rematch in Perth.

Filipo Daugunu's broken leg opened up a spot on the left wing which will be filled by veteran Marika Koroibete while Jorgensen replaced Dylan Pietsch as outside back cover.

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Jorgensen himself broke a leg at last year's Rugby World Cup which cruelled a likely Test debut in France.

The NSW star has also struggled with hip and hamstring injuries this season but Wallabies coach Joe Schmidt has seen enough at training to let him off the leash.

"My concern is that over a two year period now he hasn't been playing consistent rugby," Shepherd said on Stan Sport's Rugby Heaven.

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"He hasn't been out on the field doing this week in, week out at Super Rugby, let alone at international. Now you're putting him into a situation where if an injury happens early in the game - which we saw in Wales, we saw in Georgia with a yellow card and we saw last Saturday with Daugunu going off with his fracture.

"He could be playing big minutes in a really stressful environment and I just feel that there's a lot of pressure once again being put on his shoulders.

"And that makes me a little bit nervous. That's nothing against his skill and his potential. I think he's a great player. My heart says this isn't the right time for Max Jorgensen to come into this Wallabies team."

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Shepherd played the first of his nine Tests as a 22-year-old against England.

World champions South Africa battered Australia 33-7 last weekend in Brisbane.

Jorgensen could alternatively be playing 80 minutes for Randwick in their Shute Shield quarter-final against Gordon at Coogee Oval on Saturday.

"His athletic challenge is not what's going to challenge him in the Test arena," former Wallabies lock Justin Harrison said on Rugby Heaven.

"His durability, absolutely, we are concerned about introducing. These are big men, big collisions. The pleasing thing is Jorgo knows how to evade contact and find space and that's exactly what we need in the back end of the game...

"Now, whether you like it or not, we are going to have to accept that some players are going to need to be trialled at international level to see if they can play international level rugby."

Schmidt defended the decision to name Jorgensen on the bench and start another injury plagued Waratahs star, prop Angus Bell, at his press conference on Thursday.

"You've got to start somewhere. If it's not here, the Argentinians looked pretty good last week as well," Schmidt said.

"And if it's not them, it's the All Blacks. The nature of this competition is we've got three out of the four semi-finalists from the World Cup in a competition with us. So there's nothing that's going to be easy. So why not now? Angus is confident.

"He's worked hard, and he's feeling well able to get started. I think starting him allows us to better control his minutes a little bit as well. He goes straight from the warmup, builds a rhythm, and gets that confidence to go straight into the game rather than bringing him off the bench, which can be a bit more complicated."

Schmidt didn't expect the Springboks to go after 19-year-old Jorgensen on debut.

"In the modern game it's very hard to target someone illegally, obviously, because of the TMO and the consequence of targeting someone illegally. They may try to put the ball on top of him, but he's good in the air," he said.

"My perception of him is that he'll be keen for them to kick it to him, so he can get his running game up and going. It's hard, if you start trying to zero in on one individual player, you can sometimes distract yourself from what's working really well for you...

"Max has trained well, which gives him confidence, which gives the players around him confidence. He's one of our quicker players. He's good on his feet.

"And for a young man who will be stepping into the Test arena against the world champions, he has a quiet confidence about him."

WALLABIES vs SPRINGBOKS in Perth, Saturday 7.45pm kick off AEST

WALLABIES (15-1): Tom Wright, Andrew Kellaway, Len Ikitau, Hunter Paisami, Marika Koroibete, Noah Lolesio, Nic White, Harry Wilson, Carlo Tizzano, Rob Valetini, Lukhan Salakaia-Loto, Angus Blyth, Allan Alaalatoa (c), Josh Nasser, Angus Bell

Reserves: Billy Pollard, James Slipper, Zane Nonggorr, Tom Hooper, Seru Uru, Tate McDermott, Ben Donaldson, Max Jorgensen

SPRINGBOKS (15-1): Aphelele Fassi, Cheslin Kolbe, Jesse Kriel, Lukhanyo Am, Makazole Mapimpi, Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, Morne van den Berg, Elrigh Louw, Pieter-Steph du Toit, Marco van Staden, Ruan Nortje, Salmaan Moerat (c), Thomas du Toit, Johan Grobbelaar, Jan-Hendrik Wessels

Reserves: Malcolm Marx, Ox Nche, Vincent Koch, Eben Etzebeth, Kwagga Smith, Grant Williams, Manie Libbok, Handre Pollard

Referee: Paul Williams (NZ)