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July 14, 2009 - 12:45pm
Story by: ARU
Wycliff Palu is starting at No. 8 for Saturday night’s Bundaberg Rum Tri Nations Series opener against New Zealand
The return of Wycliff Palu is the only change to the Qantas Wallabies starting XV for Saturday night’s Bundaberg Rum Tri Nations Series opener against New Zealand, from the combination which started in the 22-6 win over France in Sydney last month.
Palu is included for the trip to Auckland after successfully negotiating without further injury problems, two club matches for Manly in recent weeks, coming back from a hand injury.
The 26-year-old No 8, who will be playing his 29th Test, broke two separate bones in his hand while playing for the NSW Waratahs during the Investec Super 14. He was brought back into Australia’s squad for the Tri Nations after missing the Wallabies’ opening four matches of the year.
Palu takes the place of utility forward Dean Mumm, with the Western Force loose forward Richard Brown switching from the back of the scrum to the blindside flank position, from where he will start a Test match for the first time.
Mumm is included on a bench that features a five-two split, with Queensland Reds halfback Will Genia and 19-year-old James O’Connor the only backline replacements listed.
The forward-orientated make-up on the bench allows for the inclusion of two openside flankers, David Pocock and Phil Waugh.
The 21-year-old Genia, who is a newcomer to the Qantas Wallabies squad for the Tri Nations, will become the 835th player to have appeared for Australia in Test matches should he be required to take the field at Eden Park.
Qantas Wallabies coach Robbie Deans says the selection represents the strongest combination available for what is shaping as the stiffest Test Australia has faced to date in 2009.
“We have made good progress, and the relative consistency of our selection reflects that, but no one is getting ahead of themselves. Playing New Zealand at Eden Park is going to be a major step up on what we have faced so far,” Deans says.
“You only have to look at the history – in terms of the All Blacks’ outstanding record at Eden Park – and their current circumstance, to appreciate the size of the task that is in front of us.”
Deans noted that the All Blacks’ current circumstance, both in terms of the level of expectations around the game and the personnel who are returning to the team, made for an almost identical pre-game scenario to last year’s corresponding match at the same venue, where New Zealand bolted to a 21-10 halftime advantage and forged on to win 39-10.
“We were simply not good enough and got found out in a big way during this match last year. Saturday night, returning to the same venue, offers us an opportunity to see how much progress we have made as a group in the time since,” Deans says.
Significantly 12 of the players who have been named in the starting line-up today also started for Australia on its most recent visit to Eden Park. Five of the seven players from Australia’s match night squad who were not involved in this game last year are on the bench.
The Wallabies cross the Tasman Sea having dispatched the Barbarians (55-7), Italy (31-8 & 34-12) and France (22-6) so far this year.
Australia has not conceded a try in its last 197 minutes of play since Italian winger Kaine Robertson cracked the Wallaby defence in the 43rd minute of his team’s 8-31 loss in Canberra.
One of the central figures in Australia’s strong start to the international season is flanker George Smith, whose selection today sees him named to play his 100th Test match on the same day that he celebrates his 29th birthday.
“It’s an outstanding achievement,” Deans says of his openside flanker.
“Hopefully we can do the occasion justice as a team.”
The Wallabies depart for Auckland tomorrow ahead of the match; the opener to the 14th edition of the annual three-nation tournament, which the All Blacks won for the ninth time last year.
History underlines what a demanding start to the competition it is as Australia last won at Eden Park in 1986.
New Zealand has won the last 10 trans-Tasman Tests in Auckland, and has not been defeated at Eden Park by any country since France prevailed 23-20 in 1994, 20-matches ago.
The Auckland visit also heralds the start of the annual Bledisloe Cup rivalry, which for a second year will stretch beyond the Tri-Nations tournament, concluding with an historic trans-Tasman Test match in Tokyo on 31 October.
The Wallabies must win three of the four Tests against the All Blacks to relieve the New Zealanders of the trophy, which Australia hasn’t held since it was surrendered to an All Black team co-coached by the current Qantas Wallabies mentor in 2003.
The Bledisloe Cup was first contested by Australia and New Zealand in 1931.
The Qantas Wallabies team to play New Zealand in the Bundaberg Rum Tri Nations Series at Eden Park, Auckland on Saturday 18 July, 7.35pm kick off, (5.35pm, AEST), is:
15. Adam Ashley-Cooper(Brumbies)14. Lachie Turner(NSW Waratahs)13. Stirling Mortlock(Brumbies, captain)12. Berrick Barnes(Queensland Reds)11. Drew Mitchell(Western Force)10. Matt Giteau(Brumbies)9. Luke Burgess(NSW Waratahs)8. Wycliff Palu
(NSW Waratahs)7. George Smith(Brumbies)6. Richard Brown(Western Force)5. Nathan Sharpe(Western Force)4. James Horwill(Queensland Reds)3. Al Baxter(NSW Waratahs)2. Stephen Moore(Brumbies)1. Benn Robinson(NSW Waratahs) Run on reserves: 16. Tatafu Polota-Nau(NSW Waratahs)17. Ben Alexander(Brumbies)18. Dean Mumm(NSW Waratahs)19. Phil Waugh(NSW Waratahs)20. David Pocock(Western Force)21. Will Genia(Queensland Reds)22. James O'Connor(Western Force)
Australia v New Zealand – Historical Notes
- Australia hasn’t prevailed at Eden Park since 1986, when an Andrew Slack-led side won 22-9 to claim the Bledisloe Cup after a 2-1 series win.
- The last example of an Australian win on New Zealand soil was in 2001, when the Wallabies scored 23-15 in Dunedin. George Smith, who started, and Phil Waugh, who came from the bench, are the only players from either side who remain from that day. The All Blacks have won the eight games that have been played between the two teams in New Zealand since that match.
- The first Test between Australia and New Zealand in Auckland was played in 1925, with the home side winning 36-10.
- There have been 22 Tests between the two sides in the city, with New Zealand winning 18 of those contests and Australia four.
- Australia’s wins were achieved in 1949 (16-9), 1955 (8-3), 1978 (30-16) and 1986 (22-9).
- New Zealand has won the last 10 Tests it has played against Australia at Eden Park, and has not been defeated on the ground by any country since France prevailed 23-20 in 1994.
- The All Black winning sequence at Eden Park stands at 19 matches, while they have been undefeated in 20, with the run starting in an 18-18 draw against South Africa in 1994.
- George Smith will play his 21st Test against New Zealand, and the 100th of his career, becoming just the 10th player in history, and the fourth Wallaby, to reach a century of Test appearances.
- In playing his 21st Test against the All Blacks, Smith matches the career tally of appearances against that nation achieved by the Wallaby legends John Eales, Nick Farr Jones and Simon Poidevin. Only five players from any country – Australians David Campese (29), George Gregan (27), Tim Horan (23), Stephen Larkham and Phil Kearns (both 22) – have played more Tests against New Zealand.
http://www.rugby.com.au/news/wallabi.../section/21893