Australian Barbarians Team Named
Five members of the Western Force side from this year’s Investec Bank Super 14 will spearhead the efforts of the Australian Barbarians, after today being named in the starting XV that will tackle England at ME Bank Stadium in Perth on Tuesday night.
The game, which is the first of a two-match midweek ‘series’ between the Australian Barbarians and the touring English side, is being played at the Force’s home ground for Super Rugby.
Two of the Force representatives in the Baabaas line-up: flanker Matt Hodgson and prop Pekahou Cowan, will back up in Tuesday night’s game after featuring off the bench for the Qantas Wallabies during last night’s Bundaberg Red Rugby Series Test match against Fiji in Canberra.
Hodgson made his international debut during Australia’s 49-3 victory in that game.
The pair are joined in the run on team by three of their team-mates from Super Rugby: fullback James O’Connor, winger Nick Cummins and blindside flanker Ben McCalman.
O’Connor has 14 previous Test caps to his name while the latter pairing were both members of last year’s Qantas Wallabies Spring Tour training squad.
Cummins and McCalman are two of five players who are uncapped at international level in the Barbarians run on side. The others are Queensland Reds centre Will Chambers, his midfield partner at the Reds Anthony Faingaa, and their provincial team-mate, prop Laurie Weeks.
The bench includes NSW hooker Damien Fitzpatrick, Queensland Reds prop James Slipper and NSW second row Kane Douglas.
Not only are all three players uncapped at international level; they have all celebrated 21st birthdays in the last week, with their presence highlighting the important development emphasis that has been attached to this series of matches.
Australian Sevens captain Pat McCutcheon is also included among the run on substitutes as coach Robbie Deans makes good on his intention to give all of the players in his travelling 40-man squad a playing opportunity within the first week of the preparation.
Hooker Huia Edmonds, who made his Test debut last night, is one of eight players included in the Barbarians line-up who were involved in the Test match, but the only one in the starting XV who also started against Fiji.
Halfback Luke Burgess and fullback Kurtley Beale, who have both been named among the run on substitutes, are the other two players in the Barbarians match night squad who started for Australia against Fiji.
The 2008 Qantas Wallabies Rookie of the Year Peter Hynes has been selected on the bench after being omitted from last night’s Test squad as he completed his rehabilitation after a minor knee operation following the Investec Bank Super 14.
The inclusion of his provincial team-mate Chambers represents another significant step for that player’s development in rugby union, after the Northern Territory-born 22-year-old returned from a highly successful stint in rugby league earlier this year.
At the other end of the scale, Brumbies captain Stephen Hoiles re-enters the international fold for the first time since the most recent of his 16 Test caps, which was earned in the second Test against France at Brisbane in 2008.
Hoiles is one of two co-captains that have been named for the Barbarians, sharing that role with NSW Waratahs flyhalf Berrick Barnes, who is also returning to international play after a gap.
The 24-year-old, who featured in every match for the Waratahs this year during their run to the Super 14 semi-finals, was forced home from last year’s Spring Tour after suffering a high ankle sprain in training prior to the opening tour match in Japan.
It was the second time in as many years that Barnes had been forced to return home early from a Qantas Wallabies Spring Tour.
Barnes played five matches at flyhalf for NSW this term, starting and finishing the competition in the position, although he played nine consecutive games at inside centre in between his two flyhalf stints.
His presence, alongside that of teenage fullback James O’Connor, offers the Barbarians two goal-kicking options, with both players having performed well in that role during the provincial season.
The Australian Barbarians team to play England at ME Bank Stadium, Perth, on Tuesday 9 June (kick-off 6.05pm, AWST) is:
1. Pekahou Cowan (Western Force)*
2. Huia Edmonds (Brumbies)*
3. Laurie Weeks (Queensland Reds)
4. Mitchell Chapman (Brumbies)
5. Mark Chisholm (Brumbies)*
6. Ben McCalman (Western Force)
7. Matt Hodgson (Western Force)*
8. Stephen Hoiles (Brumbies, co-captain)
9. Josh Valentine (Brumbies)*
10. Berrick Barnes (NSW Waratahs, co-captain)
11. Lachie Turner (NSW Waratahs)
12. Anthony Faingaa (Queensland Reds)
13. Will Chambers (Queensland Reds)
14. Nick Cummins (Western Force)
15. James O’Connor (Western Force)*
Run on reserves:
16. Damien Fitzpatrick (NSW Waratahs)
17. James Slipper (Queensland Reds)
18. Kane Douglas (NSW Waratahs)
19. Pat McCutcheon (NSW Waratahs)
20. Luke Burgess (NSW Waratahs)*
21. Kurtley Beale (NSW Waratahs)*
22. Peter Hynes (Queensland Reds)
* denotes players who were in the Qantas Wallabies match night squad for last evenings Test against Fiji in Canberra
* the Barbarians will play in the festival club’s trademark green jerseys while individual players will wear their own club socks, honouring another global Barbarians tradition.
