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From the ARU
September 9, 2008
FIVE CHANGES FOR TRI-NATIONS DECIDER
There are five changes to the Qantas Wallabies starting XV which has been named today for Saturday night’s Bundaberg Rum Rugby Series clash against New Zealand in Brisbane.
Centre Ryan Cross, flanker George Smith, lock Nathan Sharpe, tighthead prop Al Baxter and hooker Stephen Moore all return to the run on combination for the year’s third Bledisloe Cup match, which will also decide the 2008 Tri-Nations championship.
Cross, Smith, Baxter and Moore came from the run on reserves bench during last month’s loss to South Africa at Johannesburg, while Sharpe was not a member of that match-day squad.
The players omitted from that defeat are inside centre Timana Tahu, flanker Phil Waugh, utility forward Hugh McMeniman, prop Matt Dunning and hooker Tatafu Polota-Nau.
Tahu and Polota-Nau have missed selection, while Waugh, McMeniman and Dunning have slotted into a run on reserves bench which features a five-two split.
The trio have been joined by New South Wales hooker Adam Freier and Western Force loose forward Richard Brown amongst the forward reserves, with halfback Brett Sheehan and wing-fullback Drew Mitchell covering the backline positions.
Freier returns to the match-day squad for the first time since Australia beat France 40-10 at Suncorp Stadium in early July. Brown will become the 828th player to be capped by Australia in Tests should he be required to take the field.
The injured trio of inside centre Berrick Barnes, halfback Luke Burgess and lock Dan Vickerman were not considered for selection.
As well as deciding this year’s Tri-Nations series, Saturday night’s match is the third leg of the 2008 Bledisloe Cup series, with the scoreboard currently locked at one match apiece.
The fourth match will be played at the National Stadium in Hong Kong on Saturday November 1.
Australia must win the series outright to reclaim the Bledisloe Cup, which it has not held since a New Zealand side that had Robbie Deans as its assistant coach, prevailed two-nil in the 2003 series.
Thirteen of the players named in the starting line-up today started when Australia won the opening match of this year’s series, 34-19, at ANZ Stadium in Sydney on 26 July.
The Qantas Wallabies team to play New Zealand at Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane, on Saturday September 13 (8pm kick off, local), is:
1. Benn Robinson (NSW Waratahs)
2. Stephen Moore (Queensland Reds)
3. Al Baxter (NSW Waratahs)
4. James Horwill (Queensland Reds)
5. Nathan Sharpe ()
6. Rocky Elsom (NSW Waratahs)
7. George Smith (Brumbies)
8. Wycliff Palu (NSW Waratahs)
9. Sam Cordingley (Queensland Reds)
10. Matt Giteau ()
11. Lote Tuqiri (NSW Waratahs)
12. Stirling Mortlock (Brumbies) captain
13. Ryan Cross ()
14. Peter Hynes (Queensland Reds)
15. Adam Ashley-Cooper (Brumbies)
16. Adam Freier (NSW Waratahs)
17. Matt Dunning (NSW Waratahs)
18. Hugh McMeniman (Queensland Reds)
19. Phil Waugh (NSW Waratahs)
20. Richard Brown ()
21. Brett Sheehan (NSW Waratahs)
22. Drew Mitchell ()
Australia v New Zealand in Brisbane – Historical Notes
- This is the 155th match between Australia and New Zealand. The Qantas Wallabies have won on 45 previous occasions, while the All Blacks have prevailed 104 times. There have been five draws – the most recent of which was a 19-19 tie at Ballymore in Brisbane in 1988.
- There have been 17 previous trans-Tasman Test matches in Queensland, the most recent being two years ago when the All Blacks edged a 13-9 win at Suncorp Stadium. That game was the first Bledisloe Cup Test in Brisbane after a decade-long absence.
- Rocky Elsom, Nathan Sharpe, George Smith, Matt Giteau, Lote Tuqiri and Stirling Mortlock remain from the Australian starting XV on that occasion.
- Overall, New Zealand has won 13 of the previous 17 matches in Queensland, Australia two, while two further matches (in 1974 & 1988) were drawn.
- Australia’s wins were achieved in 1929 (17-9) and 1992 (19-17).
- The Qantas Wallabies are bidding for their fourth win in this year’s championship, one in advance of the country’s previous best, which was the three gathered by the 2000 Tri-Nations-winning team. At that point, the competition consisted of just four matches, two each home and away.
Tri-Nations & Bledisloe Cup Equations
- Saturday night is the final match of the 2008 Tri-Nations championship.
- New Zealand enjoys a one-log point advantage over Australia in the standings.
- The All Blacks also have an insurmountable point’s differentials advantage (+42 to -40).
- This would be the critical tie-breaker should the two teams finish tied on the championship table, which could only now happen in the event of a draw – with Australia also picking up a try-scoring bonus point.
- In Tri-Nations, four championship points are awarded for a win, with additional bonus points being earned when a team scores four tries, or when it finishes within seven points in a lost game.
- In 2008, the Bledisloe Cup, which has been contested since 1931, is being held over a four-match series.
- The scoreboard at the moment is 1-1.
- Australia must either win or draw in Brisbane to keep alive its chances of winning the trophy when the series concludes in Hong Kong on 1 November.