Robbie Deans has made three changes to his Wallaby starting lineup to take on the All Blacks on Saturday in Sydney. Rocky Elsom makes his comeback to the Wallaby side on the blindside flank, having finally overcome the knee injury he suffered whilst playing in Europe. The return of Elsom means that Wallaby 8th Man, Wycliff Palu, is now relegated to the bench as Richard Brown comes in at number 8. The final changes is an expected one due to the injury sustained by Wallaby captain, Sterling Mortlock. Young James O’Connor will come in at fullback and Adam Ashley Cooper moves from fullback to centre. George Smith takes over the Wallaby captaincy from Mortlock.
All in all, not a bad looking Wallaby side but I just wonder how much they will miss Mortlock. When Mortlock went off injured against South Africa in Cape Town, O’Connor cam on and did not look bad at all. But then again O’Connor had a shocker when he came on against the All Blacks. So it will be interesting to see which kind of O’Connor comes out on Saturday.
The team in full is: 15 James O’Connor, 14 Lachie Turner, 13 Adam Ashley-Cooper, 12 Berrick Barnes, 11 Drew Mitchell, 10 Matt Giteau, 9 Luke Burgess, 8 Richard Brown, 7 George Smith, 6 Rocky Elsom, 5 Nathan Sharpe, 4 James Horwill, 3 Al Baxter, 2 Stephen Moore, 1 Benn Robinson. Reserves: 16 Tatafu Polota-Nau, 17 Ben Alexander, 18 Dean Mumm, 19 David Pocock, 20 Will Genia, 21 Ryan Cross, 22 Peter Hynes.
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10 comments
Manny says:
Aug 18, 2009
I would have gone with Ryan Cross at 13 and kept Cooper at fullback; as good as young O Connor is I would be wary to throw him into this do or die game for both teams. The pressure will be immense!
I think Deans has opted for Cooper at 13 because he offers a kicking option. Expect another game of gaining grounds in Sydney!
P_nash says:
Aug 18, 2009
the Kid can do it. Think about the way he played against the bokke and thats a scarier team that puts the opposition under pressure.
O’Connor deserves to be there. They should have dropped Turner and put Cooper on the wing with Crossie at 13.
Guru says:
Aug 18, 2009
Ben Robinson has gained my respect over the last 6 months. I will be watching his tussle with Tialata/Franks closely. Palu deserves to be benched as he has not been the physical monster we’ve grown accustomed to. However, where I am in utter shock is the selection nof Luke Burgess yet again. What does Will Genia have to do to get the nod with Robbie Deans? I think Deans has made a blunde here and the same goes with him picking James O Conor at FUll back when Shaley Cooper is available. COnsidering that Carter is back, I will risk the backlash and state that Carter might just expose James O Conor’s lack of experience. I would not be surprised if during the game, we see Genia come on early for Burgess and also see O Conor being Swopped aroudn with Ashley Cooper. I’m afraid Deans might have just messed this one up. Had this been PDV selecting Birgess ahead of Genia the whole world would have been up in arms. Not forgetting how much he would be crucified for playing an inexperienced younster at 15. But becasue it is Robbie Deans, noone criticises. I honestly think he has made 2 critical wrong choices.
P_nash says:
Aug 18, 2009
Ben Robinson is a good player and he has progress well over the last year. Ben may have a tough time against an underrated Franks. Tialata has been dropped so Afoa is on the bench if Franks is found wanting.
The addition of Elsom is going to be key. He is a physical menace and has a particular disdain for mckaw. Brown is giant upgrade to Palu. Palu is a nothing player.
James O’connor is a phenomonal talent and he scares me. His performance against the boks was impressive. He fielded a lot of bombs against a very good kicking team in the boks. He’ll be fine on saturday.
The only kicks that could be a problem for the aussies are Cowen’s Box kicks that he does so well.
unfortunately we dont live in Aus so we may not know how they feel about deans’ selection ploys but you spot on PDV would be crucified.
leinster man says:
Aug 18, 2009
Good luck to Rocky. we will miss him here. hes the main reson we won the H cup.
Mozie says:
Aug 18, 2009
correct me guys but mortlock was missing last year when these two teams met in Sydney…..
australia won that game. I wonder what’s in store this time around. I thought the all blacks were the better of the two teams vs sa. but they had two turns. but I strongly believe australia missed mortlock in the republic. this could be the deciding factor for me, returning cater and missing mortlock. I agree with u guru, that number 9 jersey went to the wrong man. may be deans believes this game will be won in the last 20 minutes
Manny says:
Aug 19, 2009
P-Nash raises a good point, we dont have access to the Aus media so we dont know how they are reacting to this squad. But to me picking Burgess ahead of Genia is a major blunder by Deans; for some reason he has absolute faith in Burgess and it seems only an injury will allow Genia to get the nod.
I really am concerned about O Connor at the back, especially with Dan Carter back in the NZ line-up.
The loose trio does look a lot better because Palu just doesn’t seem interested in playing and Elsom adds a rough edge to the pack that has been missing for a while.
Like the first encounter between these teams this match may be decided by a silly error or two at a crucial moment.
P_nash says:
Aug 19, 2009
O’connor is a winner he’ll be fine.
BP says:
Aug 21, 2009
rocky’s not gonna make that much difference for it to have made the headlines it has. he had a good season up in the NH with leinster and was man of the match in the heineken cup final, but i still dont think he’ll have that big an impact.
genia is the form aussie scrumhalf, his service is great and i see another georgie gregan coming through there if he keeps up his form…great sniping and kicking game. he set the reds alight in the s14 when he was playing…
BP says:
Aug 21, 2009
agree with manny on the palu comment…