Australian Wallabies line-up changes
Australian Wallabies head coach Robbie Deans has made his final changes heading into this weekend’s clash with the New Zealand All Blacks.
The Wallabies are coming off an embarrassing 49-28 loss at the hands of the All Blacks who have looked nearly unstoppable in this year’s Tri-Nations tournament.
The upcoming match will take place in Christchurch, and will feature the second instalment of the battle for the Bledisloe Cup.
The injury to centre Rob Horne has forced Deans to make a few shifts in his line-up. Kurtley Beale will be making the start at full-back for the Wallabies, which will move Adam Ashley-Cooper to outside centre, in replacement of Horne.
Unhappy with their play, Deans has removed Berrick Barnes and Stephen Moore from their positions at centre and hooker respectively. The two will still join the team on their travels to New Zealand and will be available as subs.
The opening in the middle gives twin brothers Anthony and Saia Faingaa a chance take part in their first test together. Saia has previously appeared in seven tests for the Wallabies. However this will be his brother Anthony’s second appearance.
The Faingaa brothers will be the first twins to appear for the Wallabies since Mark and Glen Ella played for Australia in 1983.
Deans has elected to stick with team captain Rocky Elsom, David Pocock and Richard Brown to fill out the team’s back row. Winger Drew Mitchell will once again make the start after receiving a red card in his last match against New Zealand.
Still out of the line-up is the dynamic Quade Cooper, who was suspended for two weeks after committing a reckless tackle in Australia’s first Tri-Nations match-up against South Africa.
The bench will be made up of Barnes, Moore, Rob Simmons, Cameron Sheppard, Luke Burgess, James Slipper, and Matt Hodgson.
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