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There are three new faces and a further positional change in the Qantas Wallabies side that has been named today for Saturday night’s Bundaberg Red Tri Nations Series opener against South Africa in Brisbane.
Prop Benn Robinson and lock Nathan Sharpe add their considerable expertise to the forward pack, while Will Genia returns to set alight the backline, in the personnel changes from the Qantas Wallabies starting line-up that headed off Ireland 22-15 in the city last month.
A further switch sees Adam Ashley-Cooper and James O’Connor swap positions in the Australian back three, with Ashley-Cooper reverting to fullback, while O’Connor will run from the wing for the first time in his 18-Test career.
Robinson, who will feature in his 32nd Test match, appears for the first time in 2010 after being sidelined since early May due to a broken arm.
Prior to injury, the highly regarded prop, who celebrated his 26th birthday yesterday, had missed just three of the 28 Tests played by Australia dating back to the start of 2008.
Sharpe is also coming off an enforced layoff, albeit of just one match, after having been forced to withdraw from last month’s win over Ireland three days prior to the game due to a back strain.
After a steady build up which included a full involvement in all national squad training prior to the team’s arrival in Brisbane, Robinson also had a strong hit out with 60 minutes for his Eastwood club in Sydney last weekend.
Genia, who was forced to miss Australia’s last outing due to a fractured hand that was sustained during the second Cook Cup Test against England in June, also featured in club rugby last weekend to confirm his readiness for a Test return.
The Queensland Reds skipper from this year’s Investec Bank Super 14 Series will play the 13th Test of his career at the weekend, after having made his first run on start for the Wallabies in the corresponding game against South Africa at Suncorp Stadium last season.
While Robinson, Sharpe and Genia have all been deemed fit enough include in the run on combination, Qantas Wallabies coach Robbie Deans has opted to start fellow returnee Stephen Moore from the bench, as he re-enters the fray after a two-month absence due to a broken jaw.
Queensland Reds hooker Saia Faingaa continues in the starting role, for the fourth straight Test, in Moore’s absence.
“It’s really good to have a few of the troops back who have been unavailable to us, and Benn and Stephen especially, given that we haven’t had access to them thus far during our programme,” Qantas Wallabies coach Robbie Deans says.
“Benn has had a little bit more background than Stephen, in terms of having been able to get underway a little bit earlier after his injury, which is why he’s ready to start while we are easing Stephen back in off the bench.”
Deans says the Wallabies’ preparation has gone to schedule since he brought his squad together for the Tri Nations, although he acknowledged that his team was “keen to get underway”.
“We’ve obviously been able to have a good look at both South Africa and New Zealand through their matches over the last two weekends,” he says.
“The imagery from those games has left our players in no doubt as to the magnitude of the task ahead.
“This competition features the top three sides in the world on the IRB rankings, and we are chasing the other two.”
While Australia boasts a strong historical dominance over South Africa from past matches in Brisbane, Deans doubted that would count for anything this weekend, aside from perhaps offering additional motivation for the visitors.
“It will be about the here and now – as it always is,” Deans says.
“Our team is significantly different even from that which played [against South Africa] in Brisbane last year, as is theirs. The players who were involved on our side from that occasion can take confidence from that experience, but it won’t be worth any points for us on the score board once this game starts.”
Although the defending Tri Nations champions, South Africa has started the tournament with back-to-back defeats in New Zealand, which Deans expects to add an element of desperation to their performance in Brisbane.
“They’ll be well motivated for sure,” he says.
“Although the Springboks improved significantly in the time between the Tests in Auckland and Wellington, they’ll know that they have to lift again and will be determined to do so in order to go home with their foot back in the door as far as the Tri Nations is concerned.”
With three matches in South Africa to follow, the Springboks will still be well in control of their own destiny in the Tri Nations should they prevail on the final weekend of their current tour – as they did last year when they beat the All Blacks in Hamilton.
A win at Suncorp Stadium would also make Australia’s task of wresting back the Mandela Plate a difficult one, as the Qantas Wallabies would need to win both matches in South Africa later in the tournament to achieve that goal.
Four of the players named today – centre Rob Horne, flyhalf Quade Cooper, prop Salesi Ma’afu and Faingaa – will be starting in a Tri Nations match for the first time.
A further four among the run on reserves – fullback Kurtley Beale, loose forward Matt Hodgson, second row Rob Simmons and prop James Slipper – will also be on debut in the tournament should they be required.
Simmons would also be making his Test debut for Australia.
The match night squad contains 13 of the players who featured last year when Australian inflicted a 21-6 defeat on South Africa in Brisbane to hand the eventual tournament victors what proved to be their only defeat of the 2009 Tri Nations.
The Qantas Wallabies team to play South Africa in the Bundaberg Red Tri Nations and Mandela Trophy Test at Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane on Saturday 24 July, 8.05pm kick off (AEST), is:
15. Adam Ashley Cooper (Brumbies)
14. James O’Connor (Western Force)
13. Rob Horne (NSW Waratahs)
12. Matt Giteau (Brumbies)
11. Drew Mitchell (NSW Waratahs)
10. Quade Cooper (Queensland Reds)
9. Will Genia (Queensland Reds)
8. Richard Brown (Western Force)
7. David Pocock (Western Force)
6. Rocky Elsom (Brumbies, captain)
5. Nathan Sharpe (Western Force)
4. Dean Mumm (NSW Waratahs)
3. Salesi Ma’afu (Brumbies)
2. Saia Fainga (Queensland Reds)
1. Benn Robinson (NSW Waratahs)
Run on reserves:
16. Stephen Moore (Brumbies)
17. James Slipper (Queensland Reds)
18. Rob Simmons (Queensland Reds)
19. Ben McCalman (Western Force)
20. Luke Burgess (NSW Waratahs)
21. Berrick Barnes (NSW Waratahs)
22. Kurtley Beale (NSW Waratahs)
Australia v South Africa @ Brisbane – Historical Notes
- Saturday night represents the 11th appearance by the Springboks in Brisbane. They have won twice previously (1956 & 1971) while losing eight times, which includes defeats on their last seven visits.
- Overall, the two countries have met on 71 occasions, with South Africa winning 43, Australia 27 and one drawn.
- South Africa’s visit will be the 18th Test played by the Qantas Wallabies at Suncorp Stadium. Australia has won 14 of those matches; most recently last month in beating Ireland 22-15. New Zealand is the only visiting side to have beaten Australia at the ground.
- The ground is one of four Test venues that have been used in Brisbane. The others are Ballymore, the Brisbane Exhibition Ground and the Woollongabba Ground, which is better known as the city’s venue for cricket.
- The first rugby union Test to be played at the old Lang Park, site of the current Suncorp Stadium, featured the Springboks in 1965 when Australia prevailed 12-8. The ground did not become a regular union venue until 31 years later when Tri-Nations matches were held due to its greater capacity than Ballymore.
- Prior to South Africa’s readmission to international sport in 1992, Australia had won just seven of the 31 matches played between the two nations.
- The scoreboard stands at 20 wins to 19 in Australia’s favour, along with a draw, for the period since then.
- Last year’s 32-25 win in Perth was just South Africa’s fourth success (& its third in the West) on Australian soil since 1992; and its third from 16 matches in this country through the Tri-Nations era, which kicked off in 1996.
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Originally Posted by Sheikh
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