Wallaby Squad for Rugby Championship

[jargan83]

WILL Genia has been left out of the Wallabies squad for The Rugby Championship due to injury, while exciting winger Henry Speight has been named and will make his debut when eligible from September 11.

Melbourne halfback Luke Burgess has been included in coach Ewen McKenzie’s 32-man squad in place of Genia, although he is expected to be recalled into the squad after the first three games when he recovers from his ankle injury.

Joe Tomane has been named in place of departed winger Nick Cummins, and Ben Alexander replaces Laurie Weeks from the last Test win against France.

McKenzie has kept faith with the players who beat France 3-0 in the recent Test series.

The squad, minus those players participating in the Super Rugby Final, will assemble on Sunday 3 August to begin the Qantas Wallabies’ week-long Bush2Bledisloe regional road trip across Dubbo, Orange, Bathurst and Penrith.

Members of the Qantas Wallabies squad taking part in the Super Rugby Final will join the team in Bathurst on Wednesday 6 August.

“It’s extremely pleasing to know we will have one Australian province in the Super Rugby Final and I wish both the NSW Waratahs and ACT Brumbies the best of luck for their clash on Saturday,” McKenzie said.

“It has been captivating to follow their respective journeys throughout 2014 and I’m confident their efforts - along with those of the Force, Rebels and Reds - will have a positive influence when the Test season begins.”

The 32-man squad, captained by openside flanker Michael Hooper, boasts a combined total of 781 Test appearances and includes players from all five Super Rugby provinces - NSW Waratahs (11), ACT Brumbies (11), Queensland Reds (4), Western Force (4) and the Melbourne Rebels (2).

It also includes 25 players who earned at least one Test cap during the recent series clean sweep over France, along with a further five players who took part as squad members during the three-game campaign.

McKenzie said the familiarity of the squad would be beneficial ahead of the opening Bledisloe Cup Test against the All Blacks in Sydney on Saturday, August 16.

“We’ve come a long way as a group over the past 12 months and the consistency we’re now applying across selections, high-performance behaviours and our playing style is a positive sign that we are heading in the right direction,” McKenzie said.

“The challenge for us now is to continue this consistency throughout The Rugby Championship, beginning with a Bledisloe Cup clash against New Zealand.

“We understand a great deal of attention going into the match will be around the All Blacks and their motivation to create a new piece of history by winning a world-record 18 consecutive games.”

Players who have not been considered for selection due to injury include, but is not limited to, hooker Stephen Moore (knee), flankers David Pocock (knee) and Dave Dennis (knee), scrumhalf Will Genia (ankle), flyhalf Quade Cooper (shoulder), centre Kyle Godwin (knee) and outside back Chris Feauai-Sautia (shoulder).

The Wallabies are currently enjoying a winning streak of their own with their seven consecutive victories an accomplishment last achieved by an Australian team in 1999/2000.

In the lead-up to the Bledisloe Cup, the Wallabies will also embark on a five-day road trip through regional NSW.

The Bush2Bledisloe initiative is the brainchild of coach Ewen McKenzie and will bring passionate NSW rugby supporters closer to the national team than ever before with a range of community activities planned during each stage of the tour.

Fans in Dubbo, Orange, Bathurst and Penrith will get a unique opportunity to meet their Wallabies heroes as part of open training and fan activity sessions, and will also get the chance to see and hold the prestigious Bledisloe Cup.

FULL SQUAD:

PROP

Ben Alexander
Pek Cowan
Sekope Kepu
Scott Sio
James Slipper

HOOKER

Nathan Charles
James Hanson
Tatafu Polota-Nau

LOCK

Sam Carter
James Horwill
Rob Simmons
Will Skelton

BACKROW

Scott Fardy
Scott Higginbotham
Matt Hodgson
Michael Hooper (c)
Ben McCalman
Wycliff Palu

SCRUMHALF

Luke Burgess
Nick Phipps
Nic White

FLYHALF

Kurtley Beale
Bernard Foley

CENTRE

Tevita Kuridrani
Christian Leali’ifano
Matt Toomua

BACK-THREE

Adam Ashley-Cooper
Henry Speight
Israel Folau
Rob Horne
Pat McCabe
Joe Tomane

http://www.news.com.au/sport/rugby/l...-1226998348433

[Kept One]

Well done to the Force boys in the squad, hopefully they will get a bit more game time in the Rugby Championship.

[Alison]

Looks like a great squad! So looking forward to watching them take on the Boks and ABs! And very glad they are assembling on 3 Aug and thus can make the Awards Dinner on 2 Aug!! Phew!!! ;-D

[jono]

Too many tahs.

[jargan83]

Too many tahs.

Israel Folau is a superstar and Two Dads is in some pretty damn good form as well.

[hertryk]

I would say the boys from the Force will NOT be at the Awards Night .....

[hertryk]

Looks like a great squad! So looking forward to watching them take on the Boks and ABs! And very glad they are assembling on 3 Aug and thus can make the Awards Dinner on 2 Aug!! Phew!!! ;-D

Doubt Alison! Unless they are assembling in say the arvo on the 3rd! Maybe....JUST maybe Link has given them a later "assembly" time and not at the crack of dawn! Considering finals etc day before too!

[Alison]

But Hodgo HAS to be at the Awards Night!! He's the superglue :-))

[Buddha Handy]

Good squad. Hopefully next year we can get some backs in there as well and not just forwards! Hodgson will probably only play if Hooper gets injured but McCalman and Cowan should get good game time and TPN could get injured at any minute giving Charles a massive role to play.

I guess this is a good sign that Cowan has not signed to go overseas in case there was some doubt.

[jono]

Israel Folau is a superstar and Two Dads is in some pretty damn good form as well.

Re folau: status revoked due to stupid haircut

[beige]

Re folau: status revoked due to stupid haircut

You know he lost a bet right?

[Alison]

Doubt Alison! Unless they are assembling in say the arvo on the 3rd! Maybe....JUST maybe Link has given them a later "assembly" time and not at the crack of dawn! Considering finals etc day before too!

Hodgo confirmed on his FB page earlier that he WILL be at the Awards Dinner! So, hopefully that means Pek and the awesomely delicious Benny Mac will be too :-))) #HappyChicka

[The InnFORCEr]

I would hope Matty will be there, he would have a pretty decent chance of taking the gong IMHO!

[Tonkar]

Just Cant work out Why Horwill and Simmons are there .. But when ya look around we seem to be short of good locks Skelton ..Carter , Luke Jones, ( Injured )Sam wykes, Adam Coleman,, Cadeyn Neville and Sam Jefferies are the next line up to be blooded and the rest are either not quite next level or ineligable due to to citizenship .....

I think its the devil we know in this dept as we just don't have any depth in this area...

[Alison]

You got it Tonkar - no depth at lock at all