Rory Arnold, Will Skelton and Tolu Latu have all earned recalls for Australia as part of their 37-man squad for the Autumn Nations Series.
The trio all ply their club trade in France but have been added to the group by head coach Dave Rennie to provide experience.
Second-rower Skelton, 29, could make his first Wallabies appearance since 2016 – after which he left the southern hemisphere for Saracens before moving to La Rochelle – while fellow lock Arnold and hooker Latu headed overseas following the 2019 Rugby World Cup.
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Japan-based trio Quade Cooper, Sean McMahon and Samu Kerevi are also in the squad, although Kerevi faces a race to recover from an ankle injury, while Waratahs centres Izaia Perese and Lalakai Foketi, Brumbies hooker Connal McInerney and Melbourne Rebels prop Pone Fa’amausili are the four uncapped inclusions.
Australia open up with a game against Japan in Oita on October 23 before their three Autumn Nations Series contests – against Scotland, England and Wales in consecutive weeks from November 7.
Rennie has opted to leave younger Wallabies such as Harry Wilson, Noah Lolesio and Fraser McReight back in Australia to complete full preseasons with their Super Rugby clubs but is particularly keen to see his recalled trio of Arnold, Skelton and Latu in action.
“To have a few experienced players from overseas join us will no doubt help our development as we continue to grow and improve as a team,” explained Rennie.
“Meanwhile those back here in Australia will get a decent offseason to make the necessary shifts in their games to excel at Test level.
“We’ve given them (Arnold, Skelton and Latu) a bit of work and they have done some homework. The key thing is they need to be really well-conditioned and I know they are doing extra work there.
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“They obviously have a commitment to their club and we’ll make a decision around how they shape up when they come in but we certainly won’t be using all three guys against Scotland.
“As we know, I was really disappointed that Rory Arnold had committed to leave Australia post World Cup and obviously he’s gained more experience over there but he still has a strong desire to play for the Wallabies.
“I coached against Will (Skelton) when I was at Glasgow and he was at Saracens and since then has headed off to La Rochelle and is still keen to play for the Wallabies again
“He really leaned down, Saracens did a great job with him. They probably used him more in the last couple of years as a guy off the bench to come on with 30 to go and he was devastating.”
Wallabies squad for Autumn Nations Series (Test caps, club side and age): Allan Alaalatoa (50, Brumbies, 27), Rory Arnold (26, Stade Toulousain, 31), Angus Bell (12, NSW Waratahs, 21), Quade Cooper (74, Kintetsu Liners, 33), Filipo Daugunu (6, Queensland Reds, 26), Pone Fa’amausili (uncapped, Melbourne Rebels, 24), Folau Fainga’a (21, Brumbies, 26), Lalakai Foketi (uncapped, NSW Waratahs, 26), Jake Gordon (10, NSW Waratahs, 28), Reece Hodge (53, Melbourne Rebels, 27), Michael Hooper (c) (115, NSW Waratahs, 29), Len Ikitau (9, Brumbies, 23), Feleti Kaitu’u (3, Western Force, 26), Andrew Kellaway (9, Melbourne Rebels, 25), Samu Kerevi (38, Suntory Sungoliath, 28), Marika Koroibete (42, Panasonic Wildknights, 29), Tolu Latu (19, Stade Francais, 28), Rob Leota (2, Melbourne Rebels, 24), Tate McDermott (11, Queensland Reds, 23), Connal McInerney (uncapped, Brumbies, 26), Sean McMahon (27, Suntory Sungoliath, 27), James O’Connor (57, Queensland Reds, 31), Hunter Paisami (11, Queensland Reds, 23), Izaia Perese (uncapped, NSW Waratahs, 24), Jordan Petaia (14, Queensland Reds, 21), Matt Philip (19, Melbourne Rebels, 27), Tom Robertson (26, Western Force, 26), Izack Rodda (30, Western Force, 24), Pete Samu (15, Brumbies, 29), Will Skelton (18, Stade Rochelais, 29), James Slipper (110, Brumbies, 32), Darcy Swain (9, Brumbies, 24), Lachlan Swinton (6, NSW Waratahs, 24), Taniela Tupou (35, Queensland Reds, 25), Rob Valetini (14, Brumbies, 23), Nic White (43, Brumbies, 31), Tom Wright (5, Brumbies, 24)
Wallabies’ fixtures for the Autumn Nations Series: Japan v Wallabies at Oita Stadium, Oita on Saturday 23 October at 1.45pm JST – non-Autumn Nations Series contest Scotland v Wallabies at Murrayfield, Edinburgh on Sunday 7 November at 2.15pm BST England v Wallabies at Twickenham, London on Saturday 13 November at 5.30pm BST Wales v Wallabies at Principality Stadium, Cardiff on Saturday 20 November at 5.30pm BST
