Surprise run-on spot for McCabe
Pat McCabe can count on one hand the number of times he's played inside centre and still have two fingers to spare.
McCabe admitted he was stunned yesterday to be picked for his run-on Wallabies debut in a position he has only ever played three times.
The ACT Brumbies utility won his place against Samoa on Sunday having only worn the No12 jersey as a left-field selection in the dying weeks of the Super Rugby season.
But his hard, straight running style in those games convinced Wallabies coach Robbie Deans that McCabe was worth experimenting with in what is one of the most openly contested positions leading into the World Cup.
''It's unreal. It's obviously something I wasn't expecting. The Queensland game [in June] was the first time I'd ever played inside centre, so it's a surprise to be making my run-on debut in that position,'' McCabe said.
McCabe will form part of an all-Brumbies core to the Wallabies back line, surrounded by departing ACT players Matt Giteau at flyhalf and Adam Ashley-Cooper at outside centre.
Giteau gets the opportunity to put pressure on first-choice No10 Quade Cooper, who is being rested along with several of his Reds teammates after last Saturday's Super Rugby title win. However, it is far more likely that Giteau will be used as an inside centre during the tougher internationals, given Cooper's magnificent form this year.
Ashley-Cooper, after a very poor Super Rugby season, will need to convince Deans that he can recover his form wearing a gold No13 jersey.
The Brumbies are also represented in the forward pack, where departing blindside flanker Rocky Elsom will return to action after a long injury break as the team's captain, and hooker Stephen Moore and prop Ben Alexander will join NSW loosehead Sekope Kepu in the front row.
Elsom has played just one match since the Wallabies' 2010 spring tour finale against France last November, for the Brumbies against the Force, because of hamstring and ankle injuries.
The Wallabies suffered a massive Rugby World Cup setback yesterday with prop Benn Robinson ruled out for the rest of the year with a knee injury.
Robinson damaged his knee at training on Tuesday, with scans yesterday revealing he had torn his anterior cruciate ligament and will miss the Tri Nations and World Cup, which starts in New Zealand on September9.
Robinson, one of Australia's most consistent performers in an area that has not been its strength over the past few years, will have surgery in coming days.
The 26-year-old's absence has given Deans plenty to think about before the Test against Samoa.
His Waratahs teammate Sekope Kepu will take his place in the starting side against Samoa, with Ben Daley (shoulder), James Slipper (ankle) and departing Brumby Salesi Ma'afu (arm fracture) all unavailable.
Ma'afu has resumed training but is unable to complete contact work. Daley is expected to be fit after Sunday week's Tri Nations opener against South Africa, while Slipper is in a moonboot but expected to return before the World Cup.
Deans admitted the loss of Robinson was significant, but was confident of the side's depth.
''Robbo's obviously been part of the group for a while, so you don't like losing blokes who have been in the nucleus,'' he said.
''It's disappointing news for Benn, disappointing news for the rest of the squad and for Australian rugby as a whole.
''When the door closes for one player, it opens for another.''
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