MELBOURNE, Australia, 17 June 2003 — Reserve back Nathan Grey was likely to be chosen as Australia’s emergency fly-half to play Six Nations champions England here on Saturday as coach Eddie Jones confirmed he would take one of his biggest selection gambles.
Jones said either inside-centre Grey or winger-fullback Joe Roff would get the job of marking the world’s leading number 10 Jonny Wilkinson after Elton Flatley’s dozy slip-up cost him his Wallabies spot.
Flatley’s axing for disciplinary reasons has left Jones without a recognized fly-half to take on the team now rated as the world’s best.
With Flatley only included because of first-choice Stephen Larkham’s elbow injury, Jones said he would now turn to reserve back Grey or move Roff in from the wing to fill the fly-half role.
Jones dumped Flatley after he failed to show up at a compulsory recovery session on Sunday following Saturday’s 30-10 victory over Wales in Sydney.
Jones ruled out other alternatives — Waratahs duo Mat Rogers and Matt Burke and Queensland utility back Julian Huxley — saying it was now a selection between Grey or Roff.
Neither Grey nor Roff has played as first-choice fly-half in international rugby, though Grey did spend some time there as a fill-in in Australia’s loss to England at Twickenham in 2001.
Both have trained for the past three weeks as Flatley’s understudy and spent equal amounts of time at training here yesterday.
