Australia centre Reece Hodge says he would never refuse a call-up before next year's Rugby World Cup on home soil despite playing just seven club games in three years.
Versatile Hodge, who can feature across the backline, has been haunted by various injuries since he left the Melbourne Rebels for Bayonne at the end of 2023.
The 32-year-old left the French outfit when his contract ended in June but has stayed in the Basque country as he recovers from a knee issue with the World Cup kicking off in 12 months' time.
"I've never closed the door on playing for the Wallabies again. You'd be silly to do that while you're still playing rugby," Hodge said on Tuesday. "If that opportunity came up again, I'd never say no, but at this stage, it looks pretty unlikely.
"For me, my focus is just to get back playing and we'll see what happens from there," the 63-time Wallaby added.
Hodge's injury struggles started with a foot problem which was followed by groin and knee issues, meaning he has played a meagre 394 minutes of rugby across three campaigns in the French Top 14.
He now trains at a local gym near his home on the surf paradise of the Atlantic coast and visits a physio based two hours north in Bordeaux as he looks for a new club.
"It's definitely been tough mentally," Hodge said. "But while I've been injured for over two years now, for the majority of that period, I've been paid to be a professional rugby player.
"So, you can never describe doing what you love every day as a nightmare.
"I'm still nowhere near 100%, but it's nice to be moving in the right direction finally," he added.
Australia host in-form World Cup holders South Africa on Sunday (kick-off 11.45am) in the biggest test of new coach Les Kiss' blossoming tenure.
Kiss took over from Joe Schmidt in August and has yet to lose as Wallabies boss in four outings – two wins over Japan before a victory and a draw during a two-match series in Argentina.
"That first Test in Argentina, I really liked the style of play that we were playing with and seemed like there were some strides forward in terms of the game style," Hodge said.
"It's going to be another step up this weekend against South Africa," he added.
Starting at scrum-half for the Springboks in Perth will be Hodge's former Bayonne teammate Herschel Jantjies.
Jantjies, 30-years old, makes his first run-on appearance for the Boks since November 2021 in a chance to stake a claim for a spot in the World Cup squad.
"Unfortunately, with my injury, I didn't get to play with him at all throughout our time at Bayonne together," Hodge said. "But he's definitely a threat in and around the rucks.
"I think he's still obviously up to international level and hopefully he goes well this weekend, but not too well. Hopefully, the Aussie boys put a bit of pressure on him," Hodge jokingly added.
Australia v South Africa matchday 23s
Wallabies starting XV: Tom Wright; Max Jorgensen, Len Ikitau, Hunter Paisami, Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii; Ben Donaldson, Ryan Lonergan; Harry Wilson (capt), Fraser McReight, Rob Valetini; Jeremy Williams, Josh Canham; Allan Alaalatoa, Brandon Paenga-Amosa, Angus Bell; Replacements: Billy Pollard, Aidan Ross, Taniela Tupou, Lukhan Salakaia-Loto, Tom Hooper, Carlo Tizzano, Tate McDermott, Harry Potter
Springboks starting XV: 15 Aphelele Fassi, 14 Edwill van der Merwe, 13 Canan Moodie, 12 André Esterhuizen (c), 11 Ethan Hooker, 10 Handré Pollard, 9 Herschel Jantjies, 8 Marco van Staden, 7 Elrigh Louw, 6 Paul de Villiers, 5 Franco Mostert, 4 Eben Etzebeth, 3 Zachary Porthen, 2 Johan Grobbelaar, 1 Jan-Hendrik Wessels; Replacements: 16 Malcolm Marx, 17 Ox Nché, 18 Wilco Louw, 19 Lood de Jager, 20 Jasper Wiese, 21 Morné van den Berg, 22 Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, 23 Quan Horn.