Wallabies announce 32 man squad for final Bledisloe, 2013 Spring Tour

11th October, 2013

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Former Wallabies coach Ewen McKenzie. (AAP Image/Dan Himbrechts)

The Roar

11th October, 2013

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The Wallabies have announced a 32-man squad for the third and final Bledisloe Cup match, as well as the five Test Spring Tour.

The squad consists of 26 of the 28 players which recently toured South Africa and Argentina as part of the Rugby Championship.

Front-rower Albert Anae and winger Peter Betham the omissions from that 28, following the return of NSW Waratahs hooker Tatafu Polota-Nau and Western Force outside back Nick Cummins.

Polota-Nau (hamstring) and Cummins (hand) will continue to rehabilitate their injuries during the upcoming fortnight before once again being fit and available for selection throughout the Spring Tour.

Backrower Scott Fardy will also miss the upcoming Test against the All Blacks with an eye injury, and is expected to return to action at the beginning of the Spring Tour.

Also added to the group are three position specialists in tighthead prop Paddy Ryan, openside flanker Liam Gill and scrumhalf Nick Phipps, along with Mike Harris.

“We recognise we are going over to play some very experienced and talented teams in the UK following our Test against the All Blacks,” said McKenzie.

“As a result, we’ve selected a group that contains a strong mix of veterans but also 10 players, almost a third of the squad, who have only made their Test debuts this season.

“The reality is that the players who started their Test careers this year are only just beginning to accrue experience, so the challenges associated with a Spring Tour will be massive for them in terms of their overall development.

“Of the additions, they’ve all been around the Qantas Wallabies before at some level.

“Most are also specialists in their position, which is important due to the nature of the Spring Tour, where we are on the other side of the world for five weeks.”

McKenzie said he expected the experience of Polota-Nau, a veteran of 44 Tests, to benefit the squad throughout the Spring Tour.

“Tatafu hasn’t had much of an opportunity due to injury over the past six months but we’re picking him on reputation. He is also an experienced scrummager, which will be valuable in the UK,” he said.

“We’ll have a good look at him next week and see where he is up to, but he was enthusiastic when I spoke with him. He’ll need all of his experience to push his way back into contention although having a guy with his background will strengthen the group.”

All 32 players will assemble in Sydney on Sunday before a narrowed down playing group of 24 is selected to travel to New Zealand next Wednesday ahead of the Qantas Wallabies third Test of 2013 against the All Blacks in Dunedin.

The entire 32-man squad will then re-assemble in Sydney the following week before flying to the United Kingdom on Friday 25 October for their Grand Slam Tour and matches against England, Italy, Ireland, Scotland and Wales.

“The decision to choose 32 players now just made sense. We’ve only got a week’s lead-in once we fly to England on the other side of the world, so anything we can do now to expedite the training process is important,” McKenzie said.

“Everyone will come together to prepare for the All Blacks, but it’s also a chance for the extra guys to come in and get a handle on what we are doing. They were all with us at the start of our campaign, so we expect they will be able to catch-up quite quickly.

“We’ll get a head start now on the knowledge part, so that when we get on the plane to the UK we are already tuned-up.”

The Wallabies 32-man squad for the 2013 Spring Tour and third Bledisloe Cup Test in Dunedin is:

Player	State	Age	Test Caps
PROP
Ben Alexander	ACT Brumbies	28	57
Sekope Kepu	NSW Waratahs	27	32
Benn Robinson	NSW Waratahs	29	61
Paddy Ryan	NSW Waratahs	25	1
James Slipper	Queensland Reds	24	43
HOOKER
Saia Fainga’a	Queensland Reds	26	25
Stephen Moore	ACT Brumbies	30	85
Tatafu Polota-Nau	NSW Waratahs	28	44
LOCK
Kane Douglas	NSW Waratahs	24	12
James Horwill ©	Queensland Reds	28	42
Rob Simmons	Queensland Reds	24	32
Sitaleki Timani	NSW Waratahs	27	13
BACKROW
Dave Dennis	NSW Waratahs	27	15
Scott Fardy	ACT Brumbies	29	6
Liam Gill	Queensland Reds	21	13
Michael Hooper	NSW Waratahs	21	22
Ben McCalman	Western Force	25	26
Ben Mowen	ACT Brumbies	28	9
SCRUMHALF
Will Genia	Queensland Reds	25	49
Nick Phipps	Melbourne Rebels	24	14
Nic White	ACT Brumbies	23	6
FLYHALF
Quade Cooper	Queensland Reds	25	44
Matt Toomua	ACT Brumbies	23	6
CENTRE
Adam Ashley-Cooper	NSW Waratahs	29	86
Mike Harris	Queensland Reds	25	8
Tevita Kuridrani	ACT Brumbies	22	4
Christian Leali’ifano	ACT Brumbies	26	9
WING
Nick Cummins	Western Force	26	8
Chris Feauai-Sautia	Queensland Reds	19	1
Joe Tomane	ACT Brumbies	23	5
FULLBACK
Israel Folau	NSW Waratahs	24	9
Bernard Foley	NSW Waratahs	24	1

A number of regular and/or 2013 Qantas Wallabies players were not considered for selection due to the injury, including:

Kurtley Beale (shoulder); Anthony Fainga’a (shoulder); Kyle Goodwin (shoulder); James Hanson (neck); Scott Higginbotham (shoulder); Pat McCabe (neck); Hugh McMeniman (shoulder); Jesse Mogg (shoulder); Wycliff Palu (knee); David Pocock (knee); Hugh Pyle (shoulder); Jake Schatz (knee).

The Wallabies 2013 Spring Tour schedule is:

Date	Opponent	Location	Time
02/11/13	England	Twickenham Stadium, London	2:30pm (local)
09/11/13	Italy	Stadio Olimpico, Turin	3:00pm (local)
16/11/2013	Ireland	Aviva Stadium, Dublin	5:45pm (local)
23/11/2013	Scotland	Murrayfield, Edinburgh	6:00pm (local)
30/11/2013	Wales	Millennium Stadium, Cardiff	5:00pm (local)

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