Wallabies vs Barbarians: Match Preview - Rugby Union News
Wallabies will be seen in the action after Rugby World Cup 2011 as they take on Barbarians on November 26, at Twickenham, London. A tough battle is expected between the sides as they have featured very strong squads. It will be a big test for Wallabies,
who lost during the global showpiece and finally claimed third position in the championship.
Meanwhile, Barbarians, who form their side through invitations from around the world, are as always star-studded, with depths in both segments of forward and back bunches. However, they could face the problem of lack of understanding as they have never played
together before. At the same time, Wallabies will have to work really hard to break the two match winning streak of Barbarians.
Barbarians and Wallabies have stood neck-to-neck in 10 matches before this and Wallabies lead the equation with a good difference of 8-2. Last time they met in Sydney and the contest was won by Australia by a monstrous margin of 55-7. Interestingly, Wallabies
have remained unbeaten against Barbarians in their last five encounters.
Wallabies have given command of their side to David Pocock after their regular skipper James Horwill failed to prove his fitness for this particular clash. He sustained a shoulder injury during the bronze medal match against Wales in RWC 2011. Pocock has
been given a bench role for this fixture.
Along with David Pocock, Wallabies regular fly-half, Quade Cooper will also miss the battle due to an injury to his knee. In his absence, James O’Connor will be deployed on fly-half’s position. Robbie Deans, the head coach of Australia has also made few
positional changes in his side as well.
Wallabies are looking forward to a elevated effort from their full-back Adam Ashley-Cooper, fly-half James O’Connor, skipper David Pocock and Berrick Barnes the centre. They will have to work on the kicking as they struggled with it during RWC and ultimately
suffered with a couple of defeats.
On the other hand, Barbarians, who will be led by Springboks player Victor Matfield, are expecting Robbie Fruean, Stirling Mortlock and Danny Cipriani.
Talking about the upcoming clash, Wallabies coach Robbie Deans said that his side will give full respect to their rivals. He added that, “Their results against New Zealand and South Africa have shown what is possible, and what they can bring to the occasion.
They've got class players all over the field who will play without fear or inhibition. That is going to make them a very tough outfit to beat.”
Teams:
Barbarians: 15 Isaia Toeava, 14 Sam Tomkins, 13 Robbie Fruean, 12 Stirling Mortlock, 11 Bryan Habana, 10 Danny Cipriani, 9 Peter Stringer, 8 Adam Thomson, 7 Mauro Bergamasco, 6 Jerome Kaino, 5 Victor Matfield (c), 4 Simon Shaw, 3 Sylvain
Marconnet, 2 Keven Mealamu, 1 Eusebio Guinazu.
Replacements: 16 Adriaan Strauss, 17 Salvatore Perugini, 18 Jason White, 19 Marco Bortolami, 20 Nemia Kenatale, 21 Richard Kahui, 22 Seru Rabeni.
Australia: 15 Adam Ashley-Cooper, 14 Lachie Turner, 13 Rob Horne, 12 Berrick Barnes, 11 Digby Ioane, 10 James O'Connor, 9 Will Genia, 8 Ben McCalman, 7 David Pocock (c), 6 Scott Higginbotham, 5 Nathan Sharpe, 4 Rob Simmons, 3 Salesi Ma'afu,
2 Tatafu Polota Nau, 1 James Slipper.
Replacements: 16 Stephen Moore, 17 Ben Alexander, 18 James Horwill, 19 Dave Dennis, 20 Matt Hodgson, 21 Nick Phipps, 22 Ben Tapuai.
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