Revealed: The Wallabies team to play Ireland, as voted by the fans

By The Roar / Editor

The Wallabies are set to take on Ireland in three Tests during the June international window, with Michael Cheika to announce his squad later today.

Last week, we put up a poll asking you who Cheika should pick in the squad. Since then, we have had just over 800 responses from Roarers, giving us definitive answers on every position.

Today, we reveal The Roar‘s team to take on Ireland. You can thank us later Mr. Cheika.

Fullback: Israel Folau
Unsurprisingly, Israel Folau has been voted in as the Wallabies fullback. He took over half of the vote, with Kurtley Beale and Dane Haylett-Petty the other options, behind daylight of course.

Wingers: Marika Koroibete and Taqele Naiyaravoro
Marika Koroibete convincingly took the first wing position, fielding almost half of the total vote from Roarers.

Interestingly, the half of Roarers who didn’t have Folau at the back had him on the wing, meaning he appeared in over 90 per cent of teams picked.

Obviously, Cheika can’t clone him, so it’ll be Taqele Naiyaravoro taking the other wing spot ahead of Haylett-Petty.

(Photo by Mark Metcalfe/Getty Images)

Inside Centre: Kurtley Beale
Kurtley Beale is the man for inside centre. He took the spot with almost two-thirds of the total vote, meaning no one else even came close to displacing the long-term option.

Samu Kerevi and Reece Hodge were the second and third options for inside centre.

Outside Centre: Samu Kerevi
While Kerevi might have finished second in the race for inside centre, there is no denying him a place in the Wallabies team.

In one of the more closely-fought positions for Cheika’s 15, Kerevi took just under a third of the vote, handing him the position ahead of Curtis Rona and Tevita Kuridrani.

Fly-half: Bernard Foley
There are absolutely no surprises about the fly-half in our team. Bernard Foley took more than three-quarters of the vote to take the spot ahead of Quade Cooper, who had under ten per cent.

Scrumhalf: Will Genia
The most one-sided position in the team sees Will Genia in the scrumhalf slot. He had over 92 per cent of the vote, with plenty of room between him and Jake Gordon.

Number 8: Scott Higginbotham
The race for number eight came down to the final handful of votes, with Scott Higginbotham edging out David Pocock by just 12 individual votes.

Lopeti Timani and Rob Valenti were the third and fourth options, but it’ll interesting to see which way Cheika goes.

Openside Flanker: Michael Hooper
It’s David Pocock in the mix again, but he still doesn’t get a spot in the starting 15 out of it, with Michael Hooper taking 65.3 per cent of the vote on the openside.

(Photo by Dan Mullan/Getty Images)

Blindside Flanker: Caleb Timu
David Pocock again gets the silver medal in the race to be Cheika’s blindside flanker. Roarers have heavily backed Caleb Timu to take the spot, with almost half the vote.

Locks: Adam Coleman and Rory Arnold
Adam Coleman is the second most popular player in an individual position across the whole team, with 717 Roarers including him in their side to take on Ireland.

The second lock position was a lot closer, with Rory Arnold being included in just over a third of Roarers teams, putting him ahead of Izack Rodda.

Props: Sekope Kepu and Scott Sio
Sekope Kepu claims a convincing victory according to Roarers as the Wallabies’ premier prop. Behind him is Scott Sio, who takes the second spot in the side having just a four per cent advantage over Taniela Tupou.

Hooker: Jordan Uelese
Hooker was another closely contested position, but in the end, it was Jordan Ueelese who edged out Brandon Paenga-Amosa for the position.

The Roar’s Wallabies team to play Ireland

15. Israel Folau
14. Marika Koroibete
13. Samu Kerevi
12. Kurtley Beale
11. Taqele Naiyaravoro
10. Bernard Foley
9. Will Genia
8. Scott Higginbotham
7. Michael Hooper
6. Caleb Timu
5. Adam Coleman
4. Rory Arnold
3. Sekope Kepu
2. Jordan Uelese
1. Scott Sio

The Crowd Says:

2018-05-31T13:23:23+00:00

QED

Guest


+1

2018-05-31T02:38:23+00:00

dirtyrottenscoundrel

Guest


I am no Hannigan fan but I do rate Higginbotham (on one of his good days) but to put him in a Test side is in my opinion a 50/50 option. To say in your opinion that Cheika leaving him out is personal is rather sketchy. Can you elaborate on your opinion or is it just that? Opinions are as plentiful as a$$holes... we all have them.

2018-05-30T23:24:28+00:00

Jacko

Guest


Yes the show is very amature.....No real rugby brains among that lot and they are obsessed with finding Refs errors against their teams....

2018-05-30T23:14:18+00:00

Jacko

Guest


Ok peter so 1000 people vote and pocock gets 1400 votes...It sems a bit rigged lol

2018-05-30T17:15:05+00:00

Val

Guest


If you assume Roarer's actually are rugby followers with a knowledge of the game isn't it amazing they pick a No 8 who can't even make Cheika's squad. Scott Higginbotham has to still be one of the best backrowers in Australia and if you look at the Australian No 8's he is the best by far. However Cheika will put Pocock there who is not an international quality No 8 because why? Anyway Saturday week may just show him how a well balanced backrow, like Ireland's can dominate!

2018-05-30T10:32:40+00:00

Henry Crun

Guest


Jake Gordon the second most popular 9? The same bloke who was “rested” last week for the ‘Tahs in favour of the Phipps Phactor. The PP who then put his unique stamp on the game by gifting the ball to the Chiefs three times in 10 minutes, turning a 14-0 scoreline to 14-12 and game over. Naturally Cheika rewarded this feat with the selection of the PP in the Wallaby squad.

2018-05-30T08:36:20+00:00

deadwood

Roar Rookie


Saying you were surprised at someone saying "Michael Cheika is a lunatic" was surely sarcasm.

2018-05-30T08:31:57+00:00

piru

Roar Rookie


7 is going the same way

2018-05-30T08:22:41+00:00

Perthstayer

Roar Rookie


I was relieved to see Pocock's name not on the list. A Pooper back-row, with Poey at 6 or 8 loses balance. I think the guy is a god but when he and Hooper are on the pitch then the "team" loses out. The back row are the glue and the oil. When it doesn't function fluidly everyone suffers due to less room, slower ball, lack of a link, or from having an inferior set piece.

2018-05-30T08:20:41+00:00

PeterK

Roar Guru


read above, no one gets more than 100% in mutually exclusive events.

2018-05-30T08:19:37+00:00

PeterK

Roar Guru


actually you are totally wrong. People voting for folau in the 2 different positions are considered disjointed events or MUTUALLY EXCLUSIVE. If you vote for him in one position you don't vote for in another as well. So for 800 votes you had 420 people vote for him at f/b then ANOTHER DIFFERENT 350 people vote for him on the wing so altogether Folau got 770 votes out of 800. For your education https://people.richland.edu/james/lecture/m170/ch05-rul.html

2018-05-30T08:16:08+00:00

piru

Roar Rookie


Can someone tell me why Sean Maloney is on TV? What are his qualifications? He seems to just be someone's mate

2018-05-30T08:14:59+00:00

piru

Roar Rookie


I actually agree Dave, he's been pretty good from what I've seen

2018-05-30T08:14:16+00:00

piru

Roar Rookie


Icey what you did there

2018-05-30T08:04:59+00:00

Cadfael

Roar Guru


Naiyaravoro's defence is better than Koroibete's Speight;s is better than both. Concern with Higgers is that his discipline all too often falls by the wayside. Prpbably Hooper has been about our best performed loose forward this season with daylight second. Maybe had Pocock played a similar amount of games as Hooper he may be higher up the pecking order. Not happy to have a non kicking fullback especially against the Irish and ABs,.

2018-05-30T08:03:48+00:00

Perthstayer

Roar Rookie


Jacko - Thank God someone's written some sense. The % of Roarers unable to calculate % is a lot, divided by 100, x a lot, divided by a bit less.

2018-05-30T07:16:58+00:00

Crash Ball2

Guest


Yep, sorry. Let me try again: - 30% of voters would have Pocock at openside at the exclusion of Hooper from the starting side - 10-15% of voters would have Hooper at openside at the exclusion of Pocock from the starting side - The remaining 55-60% would then choose between the two for the 7 jersey

2018-05-30T06:53:19+00:00

piru

Roar Rookie


Can you tell us how Duckworth Lewis works as well?

2018-05-30T06:53:06+00:00

Cadfael

Roar Guru


Over three positions!

2018-05-30T06:42:06+00:00

Wombat

Guest


Naiyaravoro, if picked will be exposed in defence early and made to look a fool. I’m a Tahs fan and don’t believe he’s up to test footy. Let’s see?‍♂️?

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