Carter Gordon added to Wallabies squad for Japan and Europe tests

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Carter Gordon added to Wallabies squad for Japan and Europe tests

2025-10-13 13:01 Last Updated At：13:11

BRISBANE, Australia (AP) — Carter Gordon has been rushed into Australia’s touring squad for tests in Japan and Europe within hours of returning to eligibility for the Wallabies by leaving the National Rugby League.

The 24-year-old Gordon was added to the Wallabies squad in the absence of flyhalves Tom Lynagh, who started against the British and Irish Lions, and Noah Lolesio, who hasn’t played since sustaining an injury in the opening win over Fiji.

Gordon had been lured back from NRL club Gold Coast Titans and his signing with the Queensland Reds and Rugby Australia was announced Monday, hours before Wallabies head coach Joe Schmidt unveiled a 34-man squad for the five-test northern tour.

“Carter Gordon will get the opportunity to integrate back into the Wallabies environment,” Schmidt said. “We’ve taken a long-term view with Tom Lynagh, who is still just 22. He has had a few injury frustrations since the third test versus the Lions in early August and will follow an individualized program, guided by both Wallabies and Queensland staff, which will allow him to recover to full fitness.”

Gordon made his debut for the Wallabies in 2023 and played eight tests before switching to rugby league, where he had limited game time in the top-flight and decided to return to the 15-a-side code.

Schmidt stuck with the bulk of the Wallabies squad involved in the Rugby Championship. He didn’t select foreign-based players, including veteran flyhalf James O’Connor, but was considering options to add players when the tests fall inside the World Rugby international window.

Outside backs Dylan Pietsch and Andrew Kellaway were picked after recovering from injuries.

Ex-All Blacks prop Aidan Ross and scrumhalf Kalani Thomas are the only uncapped players in the squad.

The Wallabies will play Japan in Tokyo on Oct. 24, followed by tests against England in London on Nov. 2, Italy in Udine on Nov. 9, Ireland in Dublin on Nov. 16 and France in Paris on Nov. 23.

Squad:

Backs: Filipo Daugunu, Tane Edmed, Josh Flook, Carter Gordon, Jake Gordon, Max Jorgensen, Andrew Kellaway, Ryan Lonergan, Hunter Paisami, Dylan Pietsch, Harry Potter, Hamish Stewart, Joseph-Aukuso Sua'ali'i, Kalani Thomas, Corey Toole.

Forwards: Allan Ala'alatoa, Angus Bell, Josh Canham, Nick Champion De Crespigny, Matt Faessler, Nick Frost, Fraser McReight, Josh Nasser, Zane Nonggorr, Billy Pollard, Tom Robertson, Aidan Ross, Lukhan Salakaia-Loto, Pete Samu, Carlo Tizzano, Taniela Tupou, Rob Valetini, Jeremy Williams, Harry Wilson.

AP rugby: https://apnews.com/hub/rugby

Holiday ornaments decorate life all year long in this Belgian shop

ANTWERP, Belgium (AP) — Getting ready for the holiday season has never been stressful for Christel Dauwe — after all, her holiday period lasts all year long in her Christmas ornament shop in the Belgian city of Antwerp.

Her collecting began in her teenage years, and she now has more than 64,000 ornaments in her personal collection and another 18,000 displayed in her shop, the Christel Dauwe Collection.

“My personal wish is to have a Christmas museum, where ornaments and the idea of Christmas can be on permanent display,” she told The Associated Press. But until that day comes, her small shop uses every corner to display its vast inventory.

Its wares include birds of every feather, fruit arrangements, cars, angels, snowmen and other figurines, ranging from a few euros for a wood laser-cut Cathedral of Antwerp to more than 500 euros ($580) for a special ornament of Alexander the Great on horseback.

The store began 35 years ago as an antiques shop, selling a few ornaments on the side, but Dauwe wanted to try selling more.

On the suggestion of a Polish au pair, Dauwe and her husband traveled to Poland and found a factory that could produce exactly the ornaments she wanted. The only catch was that 200 pieces of each design had to be ordered at a time.

They returned home deflated.

“After second thoughts though, we decided to order 20 shapes of 200 each, and one day they arrived -- all 4,000 of them. We gave some away and the rest we put in the shop and, well … That’s the story from there,” she said.

The original Polish factory still supplies many of the shop’s ornaments, in addition to 32 other European companies.

“There is an ornament here for everyone. We’ve had people come in who say they have a new pet or even a new car and we try to match an ornament to them. In the end the goal is not to have some kind of posh tree decorated all with the same colors and Christmas balls. The goal of ornaments is to make you smile,″ she said.

Some ornaments are more personal. And one year there was an ornament of Christel herself, designed by her husband as a surprise.

She’s been asked to provide ornaments for weddings and other events as well.

As far as having Christmas all year round, Dauwe says she is never bored with it. Twice a year she goes around the shop and dusts each ornament individually. She has met people from all over the world, and entertains die-hard locals who stop into the store just for a morning chat.

“There are two ways to go with Christmas. It’s either the nostalgia of the past or the hope for the future,″ she said. ″Hope is what is the most important to me. It’s what keeps you going.”