Qantas Wallabies named for Cook Cup Test at Twickenham

[travelling_gerry]

The return of hooker Stephen Moore is the only change to the Qantas Wallabies’ squad to contest Saturday’s Cook Cup Test against England in London.

The Australian rake was a last-minute withdrawal from last weekend’s 25-16 win over Wales in Cardiff, succumbing to a back complaint during the side’s warm-up.

Moore’s naming reunites the front row that represented the Qantas Wallabies in the corresponding Test in 2009, with Moore (broken jaw), Ben Alexander (knee) and Benn Robinson (broken arm) ruled out of June’s two-Test series against England through injury.

Huia Edmonds, who was a late inclusion into last week’s squad to face the Dragons, retains his place on the bench, with Saia Faingaa dropping out of the match day squad.

Deans says Moore, who claimed man-of-the-match honours against England at Twickenham in 2008, will provide significant leadership within the squad for the Twickenham encounter.

“Steve’s a 50 Test-plus player, so he brings with him a wealth of experience,” he said. “He’s played at Twickenham on a number of occasions – including last year, as has our starting front row.

“We have 10 players returning from the corresponding fixture last year and that experience is invaluable. Twickenham’s a great venue to play; it’s the bastion of English rugby and they love to get behind their team and use the facility to their advantage, so the more guys that have played there the better.”

In addition to their front row, the Qantas Wallabies feature another nine players who were involved in the 18-9 win over England at Twickenham last year including Adam Ashley-Cooper, Mark Chisholm, Quade Cooper, Rocky Elsom, Matt Giteau, Drew Mitchell, Dean Mumm, David Pocock and Will Genia, who not only crossed for a try in that fixture but was also named man of the match.

Ashley-Cooper, who will move to within one cap of his 50th Test on Saturday, will again form a midfield partnership with Giteau, who scored all 20 of Australia’s points during the two sides’ last encounter in June, which England won 21-20 in Sydney.

Having starred for the Qantas Wallabies against Wales, man of the match and fullback Kurtley Beale will combine with wingers Drew Mitchell and James O’Connor in the Australian back three.

The retention of Edmonds leaves the Qantas Wallabies’ bench untouched from the one that fronted Wales at Millennium Stadium, including reserve forwards James Slipper, Dean Mumm and Richard Brown, and backs Luke Burgess, Berrick Barnes and Lachie Turner. The seven-man run-on reserves list – along with Giteau – make up the eight player contingent who will back up from the Qantas Wallabies’ 26-15 win over the Leicester Tigers at Welford Road on Tuesday night (Wednesday morning AEDT).

Deans says last weekend’s match against Wales provided a strong foundation for his side to build upon.

“We’ll be better off on a number of fronts,” he said. “Not only will several elements within our game have benefited, but we won’t have to travel halfway around the globe at the front end of the week and we’ll be better for that as well.

“We’re under no illusions about what we’re up against this weekend. England played very well against New Zealand. They would have been hopeful for more out of that encounter in terms of the result, but they played some good rugby.

“We believe this will be a step up for us based on what we witnessed in the English performance [against the All Blacks] last week, and it’s important that we make that step.”

The Qantas Wallabies will endeavour to reach their 100-try milestone against England this weekend, having registered 99 touchdowns in 39 Tests between the two countries.


Qantas Wallabies v England

Cook Cup Test

Saturday, 13 November, 2010

Twickenham Stadium, London

Time: 2.30pm (local)/1.30am (AEDT) (Sunday, 14 November)

Referee: Craig Joubert (RSA)

1. Benn Robinson (NSW Waratahs)
2. Stephen Moore (Brumbies)
3. Ben Alexander (Brumbies)
4. Mark Chisholm (Brumbies)
5. Nathan Sharpe (Western Force)
6. Rocky Elsom (c) (Brumbies)
7. David Pocock (Western Force)
8. Ben McCalman (Western Force)
9. Will Genia (Queensland Reds)
10. Quade Cooper (Queensland Reds)
11. Drew Mitchell (NSW Waratahs)
12. Matt Giteau (Brumbies)
13. Adam Ashley-Cooper (Brumbies)
14. James O’Connor (Western Force)
15. Kurtley Beale (NSW Waratahs)

Reserves:

16. Huia Edmonds (Brumbies)
17. James Slipper (Queensland Reds)
18. Dean Mumm (NSW Waratahs)
19. Richard Brown (Western Force)
20. Luke Burgess (NSW Waratahs)
21. Berrick Barnes (NSW Waratahs)
22. Lachie Turner (NSW Waratahs)

[GIGS20]

Good to finally see Saia getting some honest feedback.

Huia might not be any better a scrummager, but atleast he's effective around the park (Particularly in attack)

Can't wait for TPN to be fit again, and would like to see how Whittaker, Fitzpatrick and Charles stack up....surely there's not too much of a gap at the moment!

[robyn <3]

Thank the Lord! No more Faingaa

[BeeJay]

Hopefully they will be more adventurous in their selections against Italy and give Hodgson and Simmons a go.

[zimeric]

who was dribbling over Faingaa? CMF or Rex? oh wait theyre the same person arent they?



egg in face much...

[travelling_gerry]

Wallabies suffer injury blow with Huia Edmonds ruled out with a shoulder injury

* By David Beniuk
* From AAP
* November 13, 2010 5:30AM

The Wallabies have received a blow ahead of Saturday's (0130 Sunday EDT) rugby Test against England with reserve hooker Huia Edmonds ruled out.


Edmonds has a shoulder problem he picked up during his strong performance in the midweek win over Leicester.

He will be replaced on the Australia bench by Saia Fainga'a.

Tune into Fox Sports 2HD or Fox Sports 2 from 1.30am (EDT) on Sunday morning to see the Wallabies take on England live from Twickenham.

The loss of the experienced Edmonds is a setback for the Wallabies, who were hoping he would be part of the solution to their scrummaging woes.

"It's very disappointing this late in the piece,'' skipper Rocky Elsom said.

Start of sidebar. Skip to end of sidebar.

End of sidebar. Return to start of sidebar.

"It's a very hard call for him to not be able to play but I guess it's probably the right call.''

Edmonds is the third Australia hooker to suffer an injury on tour, with Stephen Moore a late withdrawal last week against Wales and Fainga'a limping off the Millennium Stadium with a cork.

Moore is back to start at Twickenham while Fainga'a, whose lighter frame was possibly one factor in the scrum meltdown in Cardiff, gets another chance.

"Saia's fine, he's a pretty resilient guy,'' Elsom said.

"There's nothing wrong with what Saia's doing at the moment.''

Edmonds should be right for next Tuesday's clash with Munster in Limerick, while former starting hooker Tatafu Polota-Nau was also added to the squad this week.

Elsom is unconcerned that most of the talk this week has been about the Australian scrum.

"Last year there was a lot of talk about the scrum, the year before that there was a lot of talk about the scrum, 2007 there was a lot of talk about the scrum, 2005 they didn't say anything and it didn't go very well,'' he said.

"It's hard to say what will happen.''

But Elsom said the Wallabies' last-up 21-20 loss to England, in Sydney in June, had helped prepare Australia for a massive assignment in front of 82,000 in south-west London.

"You try when you're winning matches to see everything as it is and not get carried away with the win,'' he said.

"With a loss you can't help but look over everything.

"That (loss) helped us along a hell of a lot.

"We've been fortunate enough to get a lot out of our losses.

"In saying that, you'd prefer not to have them.''

Australia have not lost a Test to the Red Rose in England since coach Robbie Deans took over in 2008.
http://www.foxsports.com.au/rugby/wa...-1225952966430

[Burgs]

who was dribbling over Faingaa? CMF or Rex? oh wait theyre the same person arent they?



egg in face much...

The Wallabies have received a blow ahead of Saturday's (0130 Sunday EDT) rugby Test against England with reserve hooker Huia Edmonds ruled out.

Edmonds has a shoulder problem he picked up during his strong performance in the midweek win over Leicester.

He will be replaced on the Australia bench by Saia Fainga'a.

Sorry Zim

[Hoolly Doolly]

I was a supporter of Faingaa due to the fact there was no other option then our own whittaker and charles(both i think deserve a crack) and huia Edmonds who i dont rate much at all at international level. Faingaa seems he is back to his old self ie lazy and no discipline at the breakdown. Its a shame as that was his biggest upside from 2010 super season.
Charles and Whittaker need a shot or are we over the aru's allowable quota of EWF players on the wallabies side?

[James]

I wouldn't call Faingaa lazy. Just at test level he doesn't seem to apply himself that well and has pretty average discipline. And he could defintely be a better scrummager.

[GIGS20]

Bloody Saia, must have been blessed by the Pope as a small child!

How the hell does he remain in contention for the Wallabies after the crap performances he has put in?

[Burgs]

TPN must be jet lagged...

[GIGS20]

If TPN was fit, I'd bet Moore would be riding the pine and we wouldn't be having this discussion.

[Hoolly Doolly]

Halftime and so far the wallabies are playing like a bunch of poofs.
Great 1st half by the poms.

---------- Post added at 00:47 ---------- Previous post was Yesterday at 23:20 ----------

It seems just when the wallabies think theyre on the up they appear to believe their own hype and manage a embarrasing display. We're back to where we were at the beginning of tri nations.
It was pretty frustrating to watch. The english were getting over the advantage line nearly every phase they had the ball. Absolutely no physical presence for the most part of the game apart from when the poms were within an inch of our tryline and then the ozzies started contesting the physicality contest. How about stepping up when theyr e 50m away so theres not as much pressure.
Also the stupid chip kicks and up and unders......I thought everyone agreed a while back that these tactics didnt work. Just give the ball back on a silver platter.

[blueandblack]

so not worth watching then? kthx

perhaps the specified chip kicks work in mungo. who knows

[Rex Messup]

Look on the bright side
That was Giteau's last test. Kid dynacast is gonsesky. He got hooked early......that was a statement by a discontented head coach.
The Cooper Giteau channel is the easiest way to advance the football in world rugby. We can't have both of them in the team.
To be fair to Giteau, Cooper was worse. He had a stinker
Our pack was monstered at the breakdown. Chisolm may have played his last test. Sharpie had a worried look at the end.
I can't remember when a pom team beat us so easily playing rugby. Sure they have bored us to death and bogged us down with spoiling tactics that prevented a rugby spectacle and kicked their way to victory. Last night they ran us off our feet with inspiring rugby. Their pack advanced with will through our midfield. Their backs cut us to shreds with attacking rugby and they blew us away with counter attack.
Our backline was flat, one dimensional and sterile again. we kicked instead of countered. We were toilet. To be fair, we were so bad because the poms blew us away.
Back to the drawing board
If I could just add my two bobs worth. Why hire Phil Blake as defence coach? Which farking genius was responsible for that aberration? The fruits of his work was on display. We were rubbish

---------- Post added at 12:48 ---------- Previous post was at 12:28 ----------

who was dribbling over Faingaa? CMF or Rex? oh wait theyre the same person arent they?



egg in face much...

CMF is not from my stable

Faingaa needs some work on his scrummaging, no doubt.
TPN couldn't hit the side of the barn with his lineout throws so that's a problem
Squeaky Moore is gayer than AIDS. The poms just love it when we pick Moore.

Faingaa is good value in tight in defence. He drops them cold with one of the best tackling techniques I have seen. He's hard too. Can fight as well. At the end of the day, he's just a kid. Another year or two of elite conditioning and weight training and this kid could be anything.

I'd have TPN as my starting hooker if he was available. He's one mean hombre

Moore wouldn't be in the squad if I was picking it. He's regularly on the wrong end of a drubbing from his opposition.