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Wallabies name squad for Spring Tour

Expert
29th October, 2017
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If Michael Cheika goes head to head with the Super Rugby coaches, who wins? (AAP Image/Dave Hunt)
Expert
29th October, 2017
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4723 Reads

Michael Cheika has named his 32-man squad for the Wallabies’ Spring Tour, which begins with a match against Japan in Yokohama next Saturday.

Jack Dempsey will miss the tour after a season-ending hamstring injury in Saturday’s game against the Barbarians, while Jermaine Ainsley and Rory Arnold are also absent, but Lukhan Tui has been named despite also being injured in yesterday’s match.

“Lukhan (Tui) won’t be available for the first two games of the tour because of his hamstring but we feel he will be ready for games three and four so it’s worth bringing him.

“I wanted to give to the opportunity to two new younger guys (at lock) who have had good Super Rugby seasons, and I think Matt Philip has improved out of sight from game one to the final round.

“Rory (Arnold) has a tear in his muscle and it’s come away from the quad so he will have an operation to fix that and he will be out for about four to five weeks.

“Jack has torn two tendons in his hamstring so he will have an operation to re-attach those and it’s a three to four month return so he will be back next year for Super Rugby.

“We’ll be looking to pick our best side for every Test of the tour. These are important matches and we want to be build a consistent, winning mindset and that’s something we want to pass onto next year’s team.”

The full squad is as follows:

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Forwards
Allan Alaalatoa (19 Tests, Canberra Vikings, 23)
Adam Coleman (18 Tests, Perth Spirit, 26)
Blake Enever* (uncapped, Canberra Vikings, 26)
Tetera Faulkner (3 Tests, Perth Spirit, 29)
Ned Hanigan (9 Tests, NSW Country Eagles, 22)
Michael Hooper (c) (75 Tests, Sydney Rays, 26)
Sekope Kepu (87 Tests, NSW Country Eagles, 31)
Ben McCalman (49 Tests, Perth Spirit, 29)
Sean McMahon (22 Tests, Melbourne Rising, 23)
Stephen Moore (125 Tests, Queensland Country, 34)
Matt Philip* (uncapped, Perth Spirit, 23)
Tatafu Polota-Nau (78 Tests, Perth Spirit, 32)
Tom Robertson (15 Tests, NSW Country Eagles, 23)
Rob Simmons (78 Tests, Queensland Country, 28)
Scott Sio (39 Tests, Canberra Vikings, 26)
Lopeti Timani (9 Tests, Melbourne Rising, 27)
Lukhan Tui (3 Tests, Brisbane City, 21)
Jordan Uelese (2 Tests, Melbourne Rising, 20)

Backs
Kurtley Beale (67 Tests, NSW Country Eagles, 28)
Bernard Foley (vc) (52 Tests, NSW Country Eagles, 28)
Will Genia (vc) (85 Tests, Melbourne Rising, 29)
Reece Hodge (20 Tests, Melbourne Rising, 23)
Karmichael Hunt (3 Tests, Brisbane City, 30)
Samu Kerevi (14 Tests, Brisbane City, 24)
Marika Koroibete (4 Tests, Melbourne Rising, 25)
Tevita Kuridrani (54 Tests, Canberra Vikings, 26)
Billy Meakes* (uncapped, Perth Spirit, 26)
Izaia Perese* (uncapped, Queensland Country, 20)
Nick Phipps (58 Tests, Greater Sydney Rams, 28)
Joe Powell (2 Tests, Canberra Vikings, 23)
Curtis Rona (2 Tests, Perth Spirit, 25)
Henry Speight (17 Tests, Canberra Vikings, 29)

Development Players
Jack Maddocks* (uncapped, Melbourne Rising, 20)
Liam Wright* (uncapped, Queensland Country, 19)

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