Will Genia appointed new skipper of Wallabies as James Horwill rested - Rugby News
Will Genia has been given a brand new role as the captain of the Wallabies for their forthcoming clash of the 2011 Rugby World Cup against the United States. Genia will lead the Wallabies for the first time in his career as their regular captain, James Horwill,
has been dropped from their encounter against the USA Eagles. Genia will be leading his side in the match to be played on September 23 in Wellington. Robbie Deans revealed his new look squad for a crucial match of the ongoing global event on September 21 and
featured six changes to his side.
Deans has decided to rest his regular skipper, James Horwill, along with James O’Connor, who has been suffering from a hamstring injury. The Wallabies played against Ireland and let their rivals past with an easy win on September 17, in Auckland. The Wallabies
managed to score just two penalty goals and conceded too many fouls during their tackles.
Their head coach Deans was not happy with their sputtering performance and ultimately featured two personal and four positional changes for Friday’s contest. Wycliff Palu has been handed over a back row role as Radike Samo was failed to impress on the same
position against Ireland. Nathan Sharpe and Rob Simmons will be deployed into the second row of the Wallabies whereas James Slipper comes at loose head.
Meanwhile, Australia is facing a number of causalties at the moment as their skipper picks up a shoulder injury, O’Connor deals with his hamstring, David Pocock and Scott Higginbotham with back.
Genia was happy to be given the leading role and told reporters that it was a huge honour for him. He added that, “It's a huge honour, a big responsibility and an occasion that I'm really looking forward to. We've got a big job ahead of us.”
Deans also talked to the reporters after naming his squad and said that they will not underestimate the USA Eagles after a poor performance against Ireland. Deans named the following squad to meet United States in Wellington.
Australia: 15 Kurtley Beale, 14 Adam Ashley Cooper, 13 Anthony Faingaa, 12 Robert Horne, 11 Drew Mitchell, 10 Quade Cooper 9 Will Genia (c), 8 Wycliff Palu, 7 Ben McCalman 6 Scott Higginbotham, 5 Nathan Sharpe, 4 Rob Simmons, 3 Ben Alexander,
2 Tatafu Polota Nau, 1 James Slipper.
Replacements: 16 Stephen Moore, 17 Sekope Kepu, 18 Dan Vickerman, 19 Radike Samo, 20 Luke Burgess, 21 Berrick Barnes, 22 Pat McCabe
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