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“We need to regenerate the team,” Jones, 0-3 to start 2023, told reporters on Thursday.

“And so we’ve got our third captain in the Rugby Championship. He’s got great potential, you know, good head on him. Calm, shows good direction on the field and he’s got all the attributes of being a very good captain.”

It caps a stunning rise for the 24-year-old, who wasn’t even picked in April’s initial Wallabies camp and yet has now usurped stalwart Nic White as the starting No.9.

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Jones said the captaincy call was for Saturday’s Test only and he would reassess before naming his Rugby World Cup squad next week.

There were some similarities to legendary Test skipper George Gregan.

“I don’t think we need to compare him to George,” Jones said.

“But I think that George had, and certainly Tate’s got, a strong determination to win. He’s a tough little bugger, which are all good attributes to a captain at nine…

“We’re definitely re-modelling the team, we need to change the team from where we’ve been. And part of it is definitely the leadership aspect…

“This has been a period where we’ve been finding a lot out about the team, finding out what’s good, what’s not so good. Where are we strong? Where are we not strong?

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“And the nucleus of any good team going forward is the leadership and the captain’s obviously a massive part of that. So it’s all part of a bit of a transitional period for us…

“We need to keep progressing this young team forward and we feel they can be a team that’s capable of winning big games consistently. And at the moment we’re going to go through a bit of up and down as we get there.”

Jones continued to take the blame for the 38-7 Melbourne mauling but snapped back at suggestions that picking Gordon ahead of Quade Cooper had backfired.

“I don’t think I got it wrong mate. In fact, I’m going to get it right and the player will get it right and to say that a young 10 in his first game, you’ve got it wrong in selecting him, is just a load of rubbish mate. So anyone who asks that question, doesn’t know anything about rugby. If you know anything about rugby, you know that 10s need time in the seat.

“If you don’t know anything about rugby, don’t talk to me.”

Gordon was Australia’s outstanding player in Super Rugby Pacific this year and produced eye-catching cameos off the bench against South Africa and Argentina before getting a reality check against the All Blacks.

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“He’s going to keep making mistakes, I can guarantee you that, and he’ll learn from that,” Jones said.

“Now, we’d love him to have a mistake free game on Saturday, but the reality is that he’s a young guy learning his apprenticeship, he needs to make his mistakes and learn from it and not listen too much to blokes like you (journalists). So that’s my job, to make sure he doesn’t listen to blokes like you…

“For the sake of Australian rugby we need to invest in a young 10 because Quade, as good a player as he is, he’s not the future of Australian rugby.

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“And we’ve got to look out for the future of Australian rugby and that’s why having a young captain like Tate and having Carter there has its risks and its foils but also for the future of our sport it’s important.”

McDermott, meanwhile, reflected on his rollercoaster 2023 season.

“Obviously, I knew better than most and me and Eddie spoke about it (in April), around my performance just wasn’t good enough,” McDermott said.

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“Particularly when you’re playing for your country, you can’t afford to dish that out at Super Rugby level and particularly being the captain of my state, it was disappointing.

“Of course I was disappointed but it gave me the time to work on that stuff. Time to freshen up and time to get stuck into what I needed to work on. So it was good.”

WALLABIES (15-1): Andrew Kellaway, Mark Nawaqanitawase, Jordan Petaia, Samu Kerevi, Marika Koroibete, Carter Gordon, Tate McDermott (c), Rob Valetini, Fraser McReight, Tom Hooper, Richie Arnold, Nick Frost, Pone Fa’amausili, Dave Porecki, Angus Bell

Reserves: Jordan Uelese, James Slipper, Zane Nonggorr, Will Skelton, Rob Leota, Nic White, Quade Cooper, Izaia Perese

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