Robbie Deans announces his match day 22 squad for Rugby World Cup semifinal encounter against New Zealand
Australian national Rugby Union team's head coach, Robbie Deans, has announced his match day 22 squad for their 2011 Rugby World Cup (RWC) encounter against the All Blacks today, October 14.
All Blacks will host Wallabies in the second semi-final of the tournament on Sunday, October 16 at Eden Park, Auckland.
Deans has interestingly named injured fullback player Kurtley Beale in the squad. However, the final decision to play him in the semi-final will be taken later in the week. Beale sustained a hamstring injury in their quarter-final encounter against the Springboks.
Commenting on Beale’s inclusion in the squad, Deans said, “We will leave it as long as we can before making a decision, It will be tough on Kurtley if he has to miss this one, but we will take no chances. If he can't play, he will contribute off the field as he always does.”
Deans announced that in case Beale fails to recover for Sunday’s clash, Adam Ashley-Cooper will switch to the fullback position. Anthony Faingaa will move from the bench to fill the vacant spot at the outside centre position. Beale’s absence will make way for Rob Horne in the match day 22. He will start the match from the bench.
Additionally, Queensland Reds lock Rob Simmons is preferred over Nathan Sharpe for the weekend’s crucial encounter.
The maych is highly anticipated as the All Blacks last lost a match at Eden Park 17 years ago, while Australia last defeated All Blacks at the same venue in 1986.
Deans, however, has ruled out the historic All Blacks dominance. He termed the semifinal game scenario as unique. He said, “It's a tough place to play, and those are impressive numbers for sure, but they don't matter once Sunday night's match kicks off. Rugby World Cup elimination matches are stand alone contests, distinct from any other that are played in the international game.”
Australian squad for their semifinal encounter against the All Blacks consists of,
Starting XV: Kurtley Beale/Adam Ashley-Cooper; Jams O'Connor, Adam Ashley-Cooper/Anthony Faingaa, Pat McCabe, Digby Ioane; Quade Cooper, Will Genia; Sekope Kepu, Stephen Moore, Ben Alexander; Dan Vickerman, James Horwill; Rocky Elsom, David Pocock, Radike Samo.
Replacements: Tatafu Polota-Nau, James Slipper, Rob Simmons, Ben McCalman, Luke Burgess, Berrick Barnes, Anthony Faingaa/Rob Horne
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