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Wallabies Bledisloe 3 Team Announcement

Brumby Jack October 16, 2012 67

No GravatarThe return from injury of Adam Ashley-Cooper, Wycliff Palu and Drew Mitchell headline the team named by Robbie Deans to take on the All Blacks at Suncorp on Saturday night.

ANOTHER UPDATE: News just in brings word that Team Rehab has claimed another member with prop Ben Alexander ruling himself out with a wrist injury. James Slipper will take over at tighthead prop and Sekope Kepu will be amongst the reserves.

UPDATE: In the latest news, reserve hooker Saia Faingaa has broken his hand at training today and will miss the match with his Reds understudy James Hanson coming into the team on the bench.

The matchday squad has four changes to the one that took on Argentina in their last match. Unfortunately Team Rehab claims another with winger Digby Ioane unable to overcome a knee injury and will miss out, along with Radike Samo who is being ‘rested’.

Ashley-Cooper is the ‘fix it man’ of the Wallabies once again and will take his place on the left wing after overcoming a bout of concussion, whilst Palu has been named to start his first match since July.

The backline sees Nick ‘Badass Honey Badger’ Cummins retain his place on the right wing alongside Ben Tapuai at outside centre with Mike Harris filling the fullback role. His ‘laser like’ accuracy with goal kicking will be an important factor if the Wallabies are to overcome a confident All Blacks side, although their last trip to Suncorp Stadium didn’t finish so well.

In the forwards Nathan Sharpe takes the reigns again at captain in what is the beginning if his second, or is it third, farewell tour and will be joined by Sitaleki Timani in the second row.

Scott Higginbotham starts at blindside flanker after playing the majority of the Argentina game there after Kane Douglas was knocked out early.

The front row sees Ben Alexander at tighthead with Tatafu Polota-Nau and Benn Robinson packing down beside him.

The bench sees another 5/2 split with Mitchell making his long awaited comeback and is joined by Brett Sheehan as the other back reserve whilst Reds trio of James Hanson, James Slipper and Liam Gill join Kane Douglas and Dave Dennis in the make up of the forwards reserves.

The match kicks off at 8pm Qld time, 9pm AEDT and will be refereed by Craig Joubert.

15. Mike Harris
14. Nick Cummins
13. Ben Tapuai
12. Pat McCabe
11. Adam Ashley-Cooper
10. Kurtley Beale
9. Nick Phipps.
8. Wycliff Palu
7. Michael Hooper
6. Scott Higginbotham
5. Nathan Sharpe (c)
4. Sitaleki Timani
3. Ben Alexander James Slipper
2. Tatafu Polota-Nau
1. Benn Robinson

Reserves:
16. James Hanson
17. James SlipperSekope Kepu
18. Kane Douglas
19. Dave Dennis
20. Liam Gill
21. Brett Sheehan
22. Drew Mitchell

TAGS » ,
POSTED IN » All Blacks, Wallabies
About the author: Brumby Jack View all posts by
A Canberra born and bred Rugby tragic brought up on a diet of Canberra Kookaburra and ACT Brumbies Rugby. It was a choice between politics and Rugby, with Rugby the obvious winner.

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Discussion »

  • Jimmy

    I just hope Palu and Mitchell last. I think, when fit they are two of the best performers but its got to be a massive ask to throw them in against the ABs first game back. I wouldn’t be surprised to see us finish the game with 14 men again.

    • Goldie

      Australia has been decimated by injuries this year and you can’t really blame Deans for that. But you can blame the ARU. Who in their right mind would arrange a NH tour straight after the WC while most teams have their feet up on the beach, followed by a Scotland test with just a couple of days to prepare (like the amatuer days) followed by another test a few days later. Because of this, injuries have continued – preventing Deans the option of picking a consistent team. He’s been on the back foot ever since. The ARU’s money grubbing has decimated the ranks & undermined their biggest income earner – a successful Wallaby team. It’s not so much the fact they’ve lost, but the manner in which they have done that is causing the grief and the ARU are the main culprits in making that come about.

    • eccles

      Give yourself an uppercut, then ask yourself when was the last time Palu had a decent game for the Wallabies or even the Tahs. For someone 195cm X 120Kg, he has a remarkable knack of being totally inconspicuous on the paddock 9 games out of 10. His form was crap before he was injured, but he has one attribute that overrides form or fitness: he’s from the ‘Tahs. He also probably still thinks that Deans can coach, which gives him and the other 2 1/2 Australians a walkup start. The other 2 1/2 people, Mrs. Edna Scrunge of Gulargambone, is expected to come on for Palu 35 seconds after the Haka.

  • Scott Allen

    Just returned from Wallabies training. Doubt that will be the final team.

    Looks like Saia Faingaa broke his hand.

    Alexander did no contact at training.

    Cummins and McCabe sat out the last half of the session.

    • gel

      Saia broke his hand during training? Or was it injured prior to this?

      • Scott Allen

        During training

    • ooaahh

      Maybe Injuries will help us pick a better team again.

      After sprouting about fitness we’ve picked Palu

      AAC is an OC or FB

      I don’t like Harris at FB against the ABs

      • S Paddy

        I agree. Doesn’t seem to have the covering pace to catch up with Dagg, Jane, and co.

    • Stin

      So, if theyre both gone then Taps to IC – AAC to OC – and start Mitchell?! Surely you can’t start Mitchell? Shippers maybe…?

  • The Battered Slav

    Tapuai to 12, AAC to 13 and McCabe to the wing.

    Other than that, not bad considering the injury toll.

    Mitchell’s inclusion is questionable, as is Palu starting, but that’s Robbie for you.

    • Dougs

      Ships to wing, AAC to 13, Taps to 12, McCabe to fullback, Harris to bench. Beale to take kicks.

      Mitchell and Palu should not be picked. They have had 10,000 injuries, time to stop bringing them back into the team with their injuries half healed. We know they can play international rugby, the Bledisloe is not at stake, give them double the time off the physio or doc recommends and let them come back through the slower path of the pre season.

    • BloodDRed

      That’d be my preferred backline but Doug’s is equally good.
      Mitchell and Palu straight back in? AAC back to the wing?
      I’ve tried about 4 times to post something about Deans’ selections but it has all been said so many times before I can’t think of anything new to say. Fresh out of ideas, just like Deans.

  • Mart

    Again with AAC to where ever….

    Put him at 13, drop who ever is there and leave AAC at 13. There are plenty of good wingers out there.

    No offense to Tapuai But AAC needs to become the incumbent outside centre. Build a combo with him and McCabe.

    I am so sick of seeing people played out of position just to fit them in!!!!!

    Someone please tell Robbie Deans that sometimes it is good to have people specialise in positions.

    You don’t see the all blacks go, Robbie Fruen’s playing well, lets put him at 13 But Conrad smiths a quality player we can’t drop him. Okay we’ll put him on the wing…….

    • ooaahh

      If we are very luck, Robbie’s last test as Wallabies coach. Reading Richies book you can tell the ABs just hate our guys, anti social not allowed to fraternise…. It’s a real eye opener

      • Skippy

        Sounds like a ‘toxic environment’?

    • whatwouldberniedo

      if taps is a superior inside centre to mccabe in almost every facet of that position, do you advocate dropping mccabe?

      they have a name for for centres who don’t/can’t pass, WINGERS!

      neither AAC or Mccabe should have been there in the first place.

    • Goldie

      Actually, you did see the AB’s do that, back in 2003, they played full backs at centre & how did that turn out? Any common links, hmmm let me think, who was the assistant AB coach back then??

      • Mart

        Ha exactly

    • suckerforred

      And 11 is not the side that AAC should be playing wing. Normally at 14 when he is on the wing…..

  • SamPro

    How can Dom Shipperley not get a run? He’s played solidly, and was a wierd non-inclusion in Argentina – and now he’s been replaced by the injury prone Mitchell. Put some faith and perseverance into your young players Robbie!

    • Mart

      And this is the genius who picked Vuna ahead of Shipperley for the Wales tests.

      • SamPro

        Dom’s probably the closest in playing style to Digby too. Doesn’t kick too much/at all, and goes looking for the ball to make a hard run and take some pressure off the forwards. I just can’t get my head around it…

    • Searsy

      Shipperly is injured apparently. Rathbone looks pretty fit and well rested…

  • DC.

    Drew shouldn’t be back already, Deans this is why everyone is sick of you.

    • James

      Tend to agree, happy for schmoo, but will cringe when he takes the field.

      So we have fat cat with no knee and drew with no ankle, what first will be next?

      • BloodRed

        First spring tour without a victory?
        First loss to Italy?

  • PiratesRugby

    Joubert.

    • Jimmy

      Oh good – so at least we know if the ABs are playing up he will swallow the whistle and if anyone else is playing up there will be no game because he will blow 68 penalties during the match.

      • PiratesRugby

        I thought I already said that?

  • sarco

    feels like the rosario 22 could be renamed the brisbane 50.

  • Pedro

    Decades from now people will look at Drew’s career the same way you look at Don Bradman’s. Doing something others rarely (if ever) do, nearly every game.

    • ooaahh

      Did Bradman do his ankle 3 matches in a row also?

  • Skippy

    Why would you bring Palu in? Makes no sense. It’s a nothing game in terms of winning the Bled Cup. It’s not a RC game. Give him more time to get right for the end of season tour… if he has a good tour, he can take that form into super rugby and be primed for the B&I Lions, which would/is possibly the end of his career in the Wallabies. I doubt he will make another WC and will probably take the money on offer in Japan etc after the Lions.
    Makes no sense… he’s not match fit. He’s not battle hardened.
    Desperation stakes I feel.

  • the ardent b’stard

    would be be odd for a disciple of the blackness to say this, after this rugby championship, and I suspect what we are going to see on the various year end tours…………all the best current referees are from the SA land and they should do all internationals until further notice…..there, said it, and it hurt, but right now they are a class apart from the others on offer.

  • fletch

    This has disaster written all over it.

    This guy NEVER learns.I just cannot believe that Palu and Mitchell are even in the team and again, like others here, I cannot believe AAC has been shunted to the wing AGAIN.

    These 3 decisions will each be the final 3 nails that close this chapter once and for all. …10.00 pm Sat night cannot come soon enough.

  • ooaahh

    I don’t wish for this but am surprised by exclusion… is Sookface injured? or just left out?

    • Brumby Jack

      I’d imagine Barnes is still suffering from the punctured lung he got in Pretoria

  • rkw

    why announce the team on a tuesday and give the opposition so much notice ?

    • bill

      why else but to lure them into a true sense of security! nah f*k it, go wallabies.

  • Vladim

    IMO, backline should be (injuries taken apart) : Genia – Cooper (the most feared and efficient combination since a long time) ; Harris – AAC (the best 12 to give support to 10 and compensate for his drawbacks, especially kicking when needed while 13 needs some big runners hence AAC) ; O’Connor – Mitchell ; Beale.
    But again injuries, so take the opportunity to give a long term 9 (who got trust except Genia? now that he is injured it is chaos : so what if he gets unavailable again, who will take the charge?) and 11 (Morahan? Shipperley? good stuff here) replacements some good experience. This team needs some good basis and not constant shifts.

    • Vladim

      Forgot Ioane, best for 11 replacement, he is always always huge in the last moments of game. When everybody is tired down, there comes this huge dragster that nothing can shake up or make it stop.

  • Vladim

    Considered Dingo’s era, there only ONE match reference : Honk-Hong 2010. A young, irrespectful and inexperienced team with guts, hunger and audacity. A real team of warriors craving for play, kicking when needed and, above all, chasing like wolves for the ball, raising sparkles during 80min of total mayhem.
    And simple strategy : a front line (leaded by Pockock) only concerned about turnovers or support to give back line quick balls and open space = speed, pace and forward pressure.
    Since then, nothing has evolved, and basically, no player stands above the youngsters of that time. Some veterans did left or were supposed to, that need to be replaced (Giteau, Sharpe, props…), but the basis is still the same. And i rate this oz’backline, when starving, higher than the AB’s : less raw power, but faster, much more creative, much more audacious.

    • fletch

      Couldnt have put put it better myself Vlad.

      Toss that man a green and gold supporters jumper will ya somebody !

  • ‘Boutbloodytime

    Boom! Another Deans brain explosion… again with players being picked out of position, injured players thrown back in too early without any match fitness, probably in a vain attempt to nick a win off the ABs on what is effectively a dead rubber, to improve Deans’ averages and save his job…

    Very shortsighted view, with a series coming up which will decide our draw for the next world cup…reading between the lines, it almost looks like there’s been an ultimatum to Deans to produce the goods or get out…

    If we need to lose to bring an end to the failed 5 year experiment that is Deans, then, although it will be another bitter pill to swallow, it might just be worth the pain of copping another loss to the ABs (just)…the more intelligent option suggests 20 minutes off the bench for Mitchell & Palu, easing them back before the NH tour.

    If we want to shuffle the backline yet again, then KB 10, Harris 12, AAC 13 and possibly Taps n the Honey Badger as wingers playing a confrontational style similar to Diggers, with McCabe at FB…can’t be worse than Robbie’s experiments with players out of position.

    Anyway, now Big JON has opened the door, hopefully after the weekend Deans has the decency to follow him through it…it’s definitely time to focus on the bigger picture of installing a new head coach, rehabilitating injured players properly with a view to the NH tour/World Cup rankings and the Lions tour.

    Good luck to the players & hopefully there are no new injuries.

  • Parksider

    Evidently Deans has no decency. Otherwise he would have slunk out the door with his tail between his legs long ago. Instead we get more of the same. It’s going to take a pitchfork wielding mob to run him out of town, wearing a suit of tar and feathers. C’mon Wallabies supporters, pick up your burning torches and farm tools to gather at Suncorp and demonstrate your demand for a coach whose ability matches the talent and depth of our boys. Robbie’s gotta go and it won’t happen as long as we confine our objectionss to the hallowed, but limited’ halls of the GAGR comments thread. Get out and shout loud! Bye bye Robbie. It’s time to cure Australian representative rugby.

  • Parksider

    Has anyone considered the possibility that Deans is actually trying to end Palu’s and Mitchell’s careers? How many times has he brought them back prematurely only to have them aggravate their injuries. And it’s not like we are short of capable wingers at the moment. Don’t get me wrong, I love watching those two do their magic on the field, but I hate to see them get hurt. Couldn’t a players’ champion in the ARU, like Eales e.g., step in and sit Robbie down for a firm chat about proper personnel management.

    • ‘Boutbloodytime

      No, I don’t consider him malicious & as a human being he is probably a decent enough bloke…his skills are definitely lacking in man management as evidenced by his clashes with Cooper & previously Giteau & the introspection required to address these weaknesses is also lacking.

      Either way, I still feel it is an irresponsible approach to bring players like Mitchell and Palu back too soon, without match fitness (which was the reason given for delaying QC’s return earlier in the RC) & regardless of the motivation, could definitely endanger & prematurely shorten their careers.

      Hopefully Berrick Bond, during his stint as a Wallabies secret agent to the ABs had a chat about their rehab & conditioning policies etc, cos they play just as much rugby as we do but don’t seem to have anywhere near as many serious injuries affecting their players.

    • bill

      I’m paranoid ….I’m just not THAT paranoid.

  • Brumby Runner

    Must agree with most comments above. I cannot fathom Deans’ thinking. He refused to play Quade citing lack of fitness when he had at least 3 or 4 games under his belt. Now he brings Palu, who has been a paasenger in most games he’s played over the past couple of years because of lack of involvement, and Mitchell into the 22 after serious injuries without any game time. Incredible!

    And he persists in picking players out of position. Tapui should play 12, end of story. Harris does not play 15 except at test level ffs. AAC is likely to turn up anywhere on any given day. But I don’t think there is any option this week to AAC playing wing – who else is fit and available, if Shipperley is apparently injured (at training?). Morahan is out! Digby is out! Tomane is out! Mitchell should still be out! O’Connor is out! Who’s left? Maybe Henry Speight or Tom Kingston, but are they fit?

    • SamPro

      Shipperley’s little brother is pretty good. We’ll call him Wilbur.

    • TerribleTowel

      Henry Speight is currently ineligible to play for the wallabies until next season due to his Fijian birth/parents. I reckon if he was eligible he would have been in the team a long time ago. As a Brumbies fan I’m delighted he wasn’t because this way he’ll actually be fit for the s15 season!

      • bill

        That guy is a finisher, wish the reds had him.

        • bill

          9: genia. 10. cooper 12 tapui. 13 Ioane/faingaa 11. speight 14 shipperly 15 morahan/harris = win,win,win assuming the forwards are laying the spadework

      • Brumby Runner

        I don’t believe you’re right. I understand Henry has been regarded as a local and hence eligible for selection since August this year. As mentioned by others, he is the best finishing winger around and should be part of the team.

        • TerribleTowel

          source? I could very well be wrong, just I know that he was a foreign player for the 2012 s15 season (the brumbies site still lists him as filling a foreign player contract) and won’t be for the 2013 one, was the form Aus. winger and still hasn’t even got a look in into the squad when half of the wingers in Australia above schoolboy’s level are injured seemingly, so if he is eligible he logically would be in the time. Even our selectors aren’t stupid enough to not have him.

  • chasmac

    The forwards look pretty good on paper.

    Backs look very piecemeal.

    AB’s by 15.

  • johnny-boy

    This has always beens Deans’ modus of operandi. Constantly picking not up to speed players in new positions (especially his favorites) and not selecting those who aren’t on the basis they ‘probably’ aren’t fit, even tho they are.

    It’s how he regularly cons his employers in to thinking he’s about to come up with a masterstroke and the team will suddenly gel. We’ve seen it time and time again and the simpletons on the ARU board keep falling for it.

    Even if the Wallabies had no injuries Deans would still be chopping and changing.

  • bill

    I have it! If all else is eliminated all that is left must be the answer. Deans isn’t selecting a team, he’s really useing the team selections and players as a semaphore to signal his mothership to beam him up!

    Enough of the tinfoil hat,I wish em well, but it’s getting ridonkeyulos seeing the same stuff again. They must be training the house down to justify these selections, it’d be nice to see it replicated on the field.

    • Pedro

      You had me at “semaphore”.

      • bill

        Unfortunately I have plenty more big words like noumenon (robbie’s selection criteria) and phenomenon (coopers 2011 super15 season).

  • bill

    Watching the commentary coming out of the wallaby camp on the selections, Palu looks reasonably judicious but Mitchell? I’m a big fan of this guy, but is Robbie really doing him a favour? I have no doubt he has the raw ability, and truthfully at this stage of his career I’d expect him to step up on short notice, even so, if he does he desrves every accolade that comes his way.

  • KingofDubai

    I’ve just finished watching the film Ali on foxtel. Mohamed Ali against ALL ODDS knocks down Smokin Jo Fraser to the amazement of thousands, possibly millions. The word “inspirational” springs to mind. I immediately thought of the WB tomorrow night where an opportunity awaits unlike no other before.

    What a turbulent, unsettling few weeks in Australian Rugby it has been. I don’t know if the WB have a plan as crafty as Ali did that night but we need to see something unlike before.

    I think the WB should watch that film and fire up. An upset would be incredible.

  • Chabal

    Why can’t they just put McCabe on the wing? He can still come into midfield for hit ups and his lack of passing wont matter. He could even defend in the centres still, so:
    Beale 10, McCabe 11, taps 12, AAC 13, badger 14, Harris 15.
    Give mafi a run off the bench or Kingston

  • Parksider

    Good thinking Chabal.

  • spectator

    Go the Wallabies!

  • bill

    Slipper in for Alexander, already a better team.

    Alexander has improved but we’re still better off, why do we need an injury for this to happen though?

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