Henry Speight has been named to make his Test debut for the Wallabies against Ireland at Lansdowne Road this weekend.
After Australia’s loss to France, coach Michael Cheika has made four changes to the starting team that played at Stade de France.
Lock James Horwill, who replaced Sam Carter for the France game, has been relegated to the bench once more, with Carter coming straight into the starting team after not being selected in the 23 last weekend.
Nick Phipps and Bernard Foley remain in their scrumhalf and flyhalf positions, despite some criticism of their performances last week.
The changes in the back include Matt Toomua taking back over from Christian Lealiifano at inside centre, and Henry Speight moving into the wing position. Joe Tomane misses out, and isn’t included on an extended bench either.
Tetera Faulkner, Kurtley Beale and Jake Schatz are the new faces on the bench, from which three will be omitted before the encounter with Ireland. Young flanker Sean McMahon has dropped out of the squad, after playing at number 6 for the last two weekends.
Jones earns his call-up to the blindside flanker spot after a strong performance in the NRC for Melbourne Rising.
Cheika was full of praise for winger Speight, who made his debut in gold against the Barbarians earlier on the tour.
“Henry has done all the right things to earn his selection, has had an outstanding Super Rugby season and deserves his opportunity to play for Australia,” Cheika said.
“He is very passionate about representing Australia and we’re all looking forward to seeing him bring his best attributes to our game.
“The other changes have been made to give the other players who have been knocking on the door an opportunity to start a Test match on this tour.
“All our changes will bring a new energy into the team and I know everyone is looking forward to the opportunities our match against Ireland will bring.”
What do you think of the changes Roarers? Agree with what Michael Cheika’s doing here?
Wallabies team to play Ireland
1. James Slipper
2. Saia Fainga’a
3. Sekope Kepu
4. Sam Carter
5. Rob Simmons
6. Luke Jones
7. Michael Hooper
8. Ben McCalman
9. Nick Phipps
10. Bernard Foley
11. Henry Speight
12. Matt Toomua
13. Tevita Kuridrani
14. Adam Ashley-Cooper
15. Israel Folau
Replacements*
James Hanson, Tetera Faulkner, Benn Robinson, Ben Alexander, James Horwill, Will Skelton, Jake Schatz, Will Genia, Quade Cooper, Rob Horne, Kurtley Beale
*Three to be omitted
bennalong
Guest
yawn!
bennalong
Guest
Did you hear Pocock has signed with the Tahs?
bennalong
Guest
ARE you on drugs Coombesy? Sense of bloody humour?
bennalong
Guest
EEEEEAWWWWW!
bennalong
Guest
What's the point of constantly bagging Hooper? There's a game on tomorrow. Who do you want to replace him tonight?
bennalong
Guest
Andrew. Throw in runs and run metres, line breaks, tries and try assists. That should show why Hooper is first man chosen!
bennalong
Guest
How'd the Tahs flog your blokes with Foley at pivot? Amazing isn't it?
bennalong
Guest
Why be fair, Pirate? Just keep bashing Hooper!
ibika
Guest
Speight should be left there for these two games now to cement his place. Hopefully he takes it.. Hope to see Genia and Copper get plenty of game time.. and hopefully then start against England.. ditto with beale. Forwards still the problem though.. we need to develop some 4, 5 and 8 players with real impact.
Dandaman
Roar Rookie
Genia and Cooper have both suffered from injury in the last year. I would not say they were outplayed but they do need some time to play themselves back into form. On the face of it in their last few starts they have had good impact and are starting to demonstrate that they are a class above Phipps and Foley. I think 2015 will be a very interesting year for Oz Super Rugby. Looking forward to the Reds coming out of their funk and throwing down the challenge. Hopefully they will not be hampered by Richard Graham.
Dandaman
Roar Rookie
Good selection. That is a sensible team that we can use as the basis to build a creditable threat at WC time. Would change Horne or Godwin for AAC on the bench for his versatility. The team that MC has selected is a strange beast. Does not look very well balanced and weak at the set piece. He also seems determined to keep genia and cooper on the bench which is difficult to understand.
Dandaman
Roar Rookie
Unfortunately Skelton survived the cut. Cannot understand this as he has so many fundamental flaws in his game starting with fitness, body height, poor set piece and lazy in defense. Really do not see what they see in him over Horwill for this match. As for Beale I am personally over him, poor character with to many black marks on his record for my liking. Rushing him back in like this smacks of politics.
Trent
Guest
He'd provide as much game day leadership from the bench as I'm seeing on the field. I've never seen a team more desperately in need of a good captain than the wallabies. Actually I lie. The Force needed one more and they got one in Hodgson. After 7 years under the beloved Sharpe who apparently was far more focused on the Wallabies than the Force given his lack of leadership shown during the years when the squad was full of dysfunctional stars; to being captained by King Pocock who seemed so uncomfortable in the role that I'm surprised he accepted the position considering that he wasn't even formally in the leadership group, it was Hodgson who lead a team of relative small names to being bonus points or an extra win away from playing finals. A captain can make a HUGE difference to a team and I think that the experiment with Hooper has not been successful. And unlike some others I'm not seeing signs of improvement. So I hope never to see the C after Hoopers name again after the Spring Tour. Not for a few years at least. You can make whatever justifications you want regarding youth etc; but the facts are that he isn't currently up to the job and I don't like my Wallabies to have training wheels on. I want the best to be chosen for all the right reasons. Not by default. If Hooper isn't playing well or isn't the best man to combine with in the backrow then I don't want him taking the 7 jersey because of the C factor
Trent
Guest
Iwillnotstandby Can I ask what indicates that he is getting better as a captain? Serious question? Because I am looking every week in the hope of seeing a glimmer of improvement and I'm not seeing it He still: - does not pull the guys in to chat at any time during the game; even after having a try scored against them - does not communicate well with the referee and still often turns away from the referee while they are talking I desperately want to see improvement but maybe I'm missing something.
Trent
Guest
Nathan Sharpe never won Force Player of the Year award which is now called the Nathan Sharpe Medal. You'd think they would have waited to name it after the guy who has so far won it 3 times. Matt Hodgson. Just a related thought. I agree with Formeropenside. It's disappointing but not at all unexpected
Iwillnotstandby
Guest
You are spot on about Genia/Cooper at their best being better than Phipps/Foley. Why don't you acknowledge that they are not at their best right now and that Phipps and Foley currently offer a more consistent performance? I'd love to see the great stuff happening with Cooper/Toomua last year, but right now it needs to happen with Cooper off the bench until Cooper shows his form is good AND consistent. Likewise with Genia.
Iwillnotstandby
Guest
I could probably offer you and Mr Beale some lifestyle coaching around the accidental text. 1. Don't draft an offensive text 2. Don't trawl the Internet for an offensive picture to attached to the text. 3. don't put in a phone number to send a text to. 4. If somehow you managed to skip the previous steps this one is an absolute lifesaver and is guaranteed to keep you out of trouble. Don't press send.
LifestyleSpecialist
Roar Rookie
Is anyone running odds on the Wallabies Bench this weekend? BENCH James Hanson, Tetera Faulkner, Benn Robinson, James Horwill, Jake Schatz, Will Genia, Quade Cooper, Kurtley Beale OUT Ben Alexander, Rob Horne, Will Skelton One of either Skelton or Horwill will go. I hope its Skelton as the Irish set piece is too good to risk Skelton's poor technical second row game.
LifestyleSpecialist
Roar Rookie
I wouldn't be surprised if we get Genia, QC and Beale on the bench. Genia and QC to get them game time at 9 and 10 and Beale as cover for Izzy and the wingers. Potentially a risk if Kuridrani and or Toomua go down as we'd be weaker in defence but I'll take that risk. AAC can fill in the centres if that's the case. Horne has been solid and played a long season so resting him is OK. Although I think he has been the form winger in Australia all year and a better all round player than Speight and Tomane when you consider his enforcing in defence and versatility to come into the centres.
Non
Guest
Nar that's not true, same back line as rugby championship except for tomane