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The return of James O’Connor to the starting line-up, and Drew Mitchell into the playing group, are the key points in Australia’s side for Saturday night’s Rugby World Cup Pool C match against Ireland named today.
O’Connor, who last Sunday surpassed 150 Test points when he came off the bench against Italy at North Harbour Stadium, has returned to the run-on XV taking the place of Queensland Reds winger Digby Ioane, who was ruled out earlier this week due to a thumb injury.
As well as returning to the wing, O’Connor will take over from flyhalf Quade Cooper (who nailed two from three attempts last weekend against Italy) as the Wallabies’ lead-off goal-kicker.
O’Connor converted three of Australia’s four tries, while scoring one himself, after taking the field in the 46th minute last Sunday.
The 21-year-old’s reinstatement to the starting XV has necessitated a positional change for fellow winger Adam Ashley-Cooper, who moves from the right to the left hand side of the Wallabies backline formation.
Mitchell re-enters the Test arena after a significant injury break, having sat out the Tri Nations after sustaining a bad ankle injury playing for the NSW Waratahs against the Queensland Reds in Super Rugby at Easter.
While Saturday will mark his return in Tests, he did get in 80 minutes playing for the Australian Barbarians against Canada last month on the Gold Coast, an outing which marked his return to the playing field.
Mitchell’s last appearance for the Wallabies was on the final game of last year’s Spring Tour where he bagged the second hat-trick of his Test career during the 59-16 demolition of the then Six Nations champions France in Paris.
The 27-year-old scored seven tries in five matches at his first Rugby World Cup in 2007, ending that tournament as its second top try-scorer. His tally included a hat-trick during the win over Fiji.
While not available to play, Mitchell was involved in the Wallabies training group through much of the Tri Nations campaign.
“Drew has worked hard within the group, he has the background with us and is ready for this opportunity,” Wallabies coach Robbie Deans noted.
“While it is disappointing for Digby that he is going to be on the sidelines for a while, we are confident he will be available to us again before too long. His timelines will depend on how his rehabilitation goes, but the operation on Tuesday night went well.”
A win on Saturday night would be a major step towards topping Pool C for Australia, as Ireland is the other unbeaten side in the group courtesy of last Sunday’s hard fought 23-10 win over the United States in New Plymouth.
Even so, Deans insists his men are looking no further ahead than this weekend, saying Ireland was a side that had shown its capabilities, especially when under-rated.
“You only have to go back to this year’s Six Nations when Ireland knocked England off to deny them a Grand Slam,” Deans says.
“They are a solid unit, filled with experienced performers. Their set piece is excellent, they have a big pack and they will be up for it, seeing this match as a great opportunity to make a statement.
“Crucially they have also troubled us in the past, and will believe they can do so again. We’ve never had it easy playing against them. Saturday night will be no difficult. It is going to take a big effort to get the job done.”
Although pleased with the Wallabies’ performance in last Sunday’s tournament opener, which is reinforced by the continuity in selection for this match, Deans says there are plenty of areas where his team can improve.
“We have to keep stepping up because you can guarantee that everyone else will be,” he says.
While Australia is undefeated in its last three against Ireland, all three have been close: Australia won 18-12 at Melbourne in 2008 and 22-15 in Brisbane last year, while the 2009 match at Croke Park in Dublin resulted in a 20-20 draw after Irish skipper Brian O’Driscoll scored a late game-tying try for the hosts.
That match killed off Australian hopes of completing a coveted Grand Slam on the 2009 tour.
The 2008 contest, which opened that season, was the first for Deans as Australian coach.
Four seasons on, Saturday night’s match sees Deans become just the third man to preside over the Wallabies as coach for 50 Tests.
Bob Dwyer (1982-83 then 1987-95) oversaw Australia’s fortunes through 67 Tests. Eddie Jones (2001-2005) also surpassed a half century of Tests in charge, finishing his term after 57 Tests as Wallabies coach.
The Wallabies team to play Ireland in the fourth match of Pool C at the Rugby World Cup, at Eden Park in Auckland on Saturday evening (kick-off: 8.30pm NZ time, 6.30pm AEST) is:
15. Kurtley Beale (NSW Waratahs)
14. James O’Connor (Western Force)
13. Anthony Fainga’a (Queensland Reds)
12. Pat McCabe (Brumbies)
11. Adam Ashley-Cooper (Brumbies)
10. Quade Cooper (Queensland Reds)
9. Will Genia (Queensland Reds)
8. Radike Samo (Queensland Reds)
7. David Pocock (Western Force)
6. Rocky Elsom (Brumbies)
5. James Horwill (Queensland Reds, captain)
4. Dan Vickerman (NSW Waratahs)
3. Ben Alexander (Brumbies)
2. Stephen Moore (Brumbies)
1. Sekope Kepu (NSW Waratahs)
Run on Reserves:
16. Tatafu Polota Nau (NSW Waratahs)
17. James Slipper (Queensland Reds)
18. Rob Simmons (Queensland Reds)
19. Ben McCalman (Western Force)
20. Scott Higginbotham (Queensland Reds)
21. Luke Burgess (NSW Waratahs)
22. Drew Mitchell (NSW Waratahs)
Australia v Ireland – Historical Notes
• This is the 30th Test match to have been played between teams representing Australia and Ireland.
• Australia has won 20 of those matches and Ireland eight, with the 2009 match at Croke Park in Dublin squared 20 apiece.
• Four of those previous matches have been played at Rugby World Cups, with Australia eliminating Ireland at the quarter-final stage of the 1987 and 1991 tournaments while also eclipsing the men in green in pool play during the 1999 and 2003 events.
• Prior to this week’s tournament-opening win over the United States at New Plymouth, Ireland had only once previously won a Test match in New Zealand. That was during the inaugural Rugby World Cup in 1987 when the Irish beat Canada 46-19 in Dunedin.
• Last Sunday’s 32-6 win over Italy at North Harbour Stadium was Australia’s first win on New Zealand soil for 11 years.
• Ireland provided Australia’s first opponent under the charge of Robbie Deans, with the Wallabies prevailing 18-12 at Melbourne in 2008. Just four of the Australian starting XV from that night – Adam Ashley-Cooper, Rocky Elsom, James Horwill and Stephen Moore are in the run on line-up again this time.
• Queensland Reds centre Anthony Fainga’a becomes the seventh different centre to oppose Brian O’Driscoll, in the 11 Tests that the Irish captain has played against Australia since he made his international debut against the Wallabies at Brisbane in 1999.
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Originally Posted by shasta
