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In-form Western Force hooker Nathan Charles has played his way into Wallabies contention for upcoming Tests against Scotland and Wales.
And the No.2 has the perfect opportunity to further enhance his claims when he fronts up to incumbent Wallabies hooker Tatafu Polota-Nau in Friday's Super Rugby showdown against the NSW Waratahs at nib Stadium.
The Wallabies open their campaign with a one-off match against Scotland in Newcastle on June 5, followed by the first of a three-Test series against the Welsh in Brisbane four days later.
Australian coach Robbie Deans has already flagged that the team to play Scotland will likely be made up primarily of players from the Force and the Queensland Reds outfits because both teams have a bye the week before the Tests start.
But Charles, 23, who has already made previous Wallabies train-on squads, said he was more focused on the Waratahs, who will be out to avenge the one-point loss they suffered to the Force in round four, than international duties.
"To be honest that (Wallabies) is the last thing on my mind. The first thing on my mind right now is the Waratahs and putting in consistently good performances week in, week out," Charles said.
"Tatafu is the No.1 hooker in Australia and possibly the world, so every time I go up against him it's a challenge.
"He is a fantastic player but it doesn't matter who you are going up against. They are the opposition and I'm going to do everything I can to nullify them."
The Force are five points behind NSW on the Australian conference table. The Tahs had a bye last week but like the Force also lost to the Chiefs in their most recent match.
"The Tahs have come on in leaps and bounds since we played them," Charles said.
"It's going to be a totally new machine that they bring to Perth.
"We've got one up on them and they are going to be extremely motivated. We have to nullify their attack and try and hit them behind the advantage line on defence."
Charles said the squad had been put through some heavy training sessions since Friday's 20-12 loss to the Chiefs.
"There's a few things we pulled out of that performance," he said.
"The disappointing thing is that we came so close and had so many bullets to fire, yet we just couldn't get over the line."
http://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/spo...ame-for-tests/
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Originally Posted by James
