Melbourne Rebels starting prop Matt Gibbon has been included in Dave Rennie’s 36-man squad for the next month’s tour of Argentina.
The twenty-seven-year-old is one of five Melbourne Rebels named in the touring party, joining Matt Philip, Reece Hodge, Rob Leota and Pone Fa'amausili.
It’s been a year to remember for the popular prop with Gibbon enjoying his most consistent Super Rugby season to date, before impressing for Australia A’s in Fiji.
Gibbon believes his Pacific Nations Cup experience has him perfectly prepared for next week’s opportunity with the Wallabies.
“It’s exciting, especially getting the opportunity to travel to Argentina so I’m keen to go there and hopefully get a few games,” said Gibbon.
“There’s a lot of good players in the Australia A squad, so it’s been good getting to play at that next tier and getting to know a couple of those boys and play some really good footy together.
“I think that experience helped prepare me for this next opportunity.”
Gibbon's teammate Pone Fa'amausili and Waratahs forward Jed Holloway are also in contention for their first Tests on the tour after overcoming niggles during the England series.
A raft of injuries in the backline have paved the way for centres Irae Simone and Lalakai Foketi to push for a potential Wallabies return.
Simone has had a standout year for the Brumbies, last featuring for the national side in 2020.
Meanwhile, Foketi made his debut for the Wallabies at the end of the Spring Tour, replacing injured teammate Izaia Perese.
“We were massively disappointed on the weekend but we're only three matches into a 14-Test season so we need to take the lessons on board quickly and learn from them," Rennie said in a statement.
"To be able to pick guys who have performed well in the Australia A program against quality International opposition is a massive positive and we're looking forward to welcoming them to the mob next week.
"We're well aware of how tough the challenge is of playing Argentina two weeks in a row on their home soil and they'll be full of confidence after their series win over Scotland."
The squad will assemble on the Gold Coast on Tuesday before travelling to Argentina on Friday.
They will open the Rugby Championship with games against Los Pumas on the 6th and 13th of August (local time) in Mendoza and San Juan respectively.
Allan Alaalatoa (28, Brumbies, 55 Tests)
Rory Arnold (32, TBC, 29 Tests)
Jock Campbell (27, Queensland Reds, uncapped)
Quade Cooper (34, Kintetsu Liners, 75 Tests)
Pone Fa'amausili (25, Melbourne Rebels, uncapped)
Folau Fainga'a (27, Brumbies, 28 Tests)
Lalakai Foketi (27, NSW Waratahs, 1 Test)
Nick Frost (22, Brumbies, 2 Tests)
Matt Gibbon (27, Melbourne Rebels, uncapped)
Jake Gordon (29, NSW Waratahs, 12 Tests)
Reece Hodge (27, Melbourne Rebels, 55 Tests)
Michael Hooper (c) (30, NSW Waratahs, 121 Tests)
Jed Holloway (29, NSW Waratahs, uncapped)
Len Ikitau (23, Brumbies, 15 Tests)
Marika Koroibete (29, Saitama Wild Knights, 45 Tests)
Rob Leota (25, Melbourne Rebels, 9 Tests)
Noah Lolesio (22, Brumbies, 12 Tests)
Lachlan Lonergan (22, Brumbies, 4 Tests)
Tate McDermott (23, Queensland Reds, 16 Tests)
Fraser McReight (23, Queensland Reds, 2 Tests)
James O’Connor (32, Queensland Reds, 63 Tests)
Hunter Paisami (24, Queensland Reds, 17 Tests)
Jordan Petaia (22, Queensland Reds, 18 Tests)
Matt Philip (28, Melbourne Rebels, 23 Tests)
David Porecki (29, NSW Waratahs, 3 Tests)
Pete Samu (30, Brumbies, 22 Tests)
Irae Simone (27, Brumbies, 2 Tests)
Scott Sio (30, Brumbies, 70 Tests)
James Slipper (33, Brumbies, 117 Tests)
Darcy Swain (25, Brumbies, 11 Tests)
Taniela Tupou (26, Queensland Reds, 40 Tests)
Rob Valetini (23, Brumbies, 21 Tests)
Suliasi Vunivalu (26, Queensland Reds, 1 Test)
Nic White (32, Brumbies, 50 Tests)
Harry Wilson (22, Queensland Reds, 11 Tests)
Tom Wright (24, Brumbies, 12 Tests)
