Wallabies v. Springboks: Team announcement

Brumby Jack September 4, 2012 76

After a week off, The Rugby Championship caravan has arrived in Perth for this Saturday’s Test match against the Springboks.

Despite the week off, there have been just as many headlines with the ‘will he?’ or ‘won’t he?’ rumors surrounding the coaching situation of Robbie Deans and time to reflect on the big donut handed out by the All Blacks in Auckland.

With much to consider, Deans has announced the following team to take on the Springboks.

15. Kurtley Beale
14. Dominic Shipperley
13. Adam Ashley-Cooper
12. Berrick Barnes
11. Digby Ioane
10. Quade Cooper
9. Will Genia (c)
8. Radike Samo
7. Michael Hooper
6. Dave Dennis
5. Nathan Sharpe
4. Sitaleki Timani
3. Ben Alexander
2. Stephen Moore
1. Benn Robinson

Reserves:
16. Tatafu Polota-Nau
17. James Slipper
18. Scott Higginbotham
19. Liam Gill
20. Nick Phipps
21. Mike Harris
22. Anthony Fainga’a

The obvious change sees debutant Dom Shipperley coming in for Drew Mitchell, who was cruelly hit by the injury curse again in Auckland. The other big change sees Rob Horne dropped from the 22 entirely with Adam Ashley-Cooper taking his place, whilst Radike Samo takes over from Scott Higginbotham at the back of the scrum. Kurtley Beale returns to the starting 15 at fullback.

Let the debate begin….

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About the author: Brumby Jack View all posts by Brumby Jack

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.

Discussion »

Rhydian

Shipperley over Cummins…..
- Funk
  
  Every time….however I probably would have had the honey badger on the bench over fingers!
  - Rhydian
    
    Against a powerful SA backline? We need Cummins’ defence and attacking prowess over Shipperley’s pace….and nothing else. IMO.
    - Funk
      
      Did you happen to see any of Shipperly’s games this year? His defence was solid.
    - BloodRed
      
      Scored more tries than any other Australian, didn’t miss a tackle, did the impossible at times saving tries but yeah you’re right, he’s got nothing. Go Shippsanity
- Brax
  
  And rightly so! Cummins should never ever get near a Wallabies jersy……. Ever!
  - Nipper
    
    Heh. Right…. you must be a big Rob Horne fan then?
    - Brax
      
      Ahhhhhh Nup! I just like to see blokes who can actually play the game make the national team. Only Force fans could be so blinded to suggest Cummins is international standard. Hell he’s barely S15 standard!
      Horne may be good enough one day… Cummins , never!
      
      AAC is our best bet at 13 at this time & is rightly & finally selected there.
Skip

i need to be careful what I say. it turns out that saying “hey dingo, why didn’t you select such and such (in the case shipperly) sooner” makes me a racist.
- rae1
  
  Oops, i thought Dingo was used as a term of endearment over there lol.
Rusty

Thank god for injuries. They are starting to make Deans look a lot smarter. Would have loved Badger to get a start but Ships has the stats and is an excellent finisher. Samo will be useful against the Bok back three. I would expect to see Scott H out just before or after half time. Thank god Moore is starting.
- Old Weary
  
  completely agree – looking forward to seeing Samo, Timani and Sharp all fired up.
  
  Higgers will be a great sub is he is up for it.
  
  Only question mark is Fingers. Obviously great in defense, but not much in attack. Is he expecting him to come on in the last 15mins to defend a lead? Maybe.
  
  I would have like to see the honey badger there. Can play wing and center. He might even tape his hair back and send the girls wild.
Funk

No reserve lock is a little worrying.
- REDinCPT
  
  2 reserve locks in dennis and samo. deans wants to start his bench again
  - Funk
    
    Samo won’t play 80min, be lucky to play 50mins and Dennis is as usefull at lock as Mumm.
    - REDinCPT
      
      yup, agree with both your points. just trying to work out what deans has planned for backup lock.
- Old Weary
  
  Timani will do 80….
  - Bobby
    
    Do and be effective are 2 completely different things. Timani had a reasonable game two weeks ago but nothing to secure your spot in the team. If Sharpe doesn’t improve this week in his lineout calling and completion he should be dropped. Dennis has this week to prove himself or he should be ousted.
    - Old Weary
      
      maybe my sarcasm at having Timani playing a full 80mins wasn’t picked up.
      
      He may be on the park, but he does seem to run out of steam.
Jon

Still would kept Higgers at 6. Would of liked to see Taps get a run too. But really happy with Dom getting a run.
pinko

Its a shame berrick “kick the ball” barnes is still there but it is still the best backline we have had in years.
- PM
  
  Who would you pick at 12 then? Agree that this is the best backline given the current crop apart from a fit JOC and Mitchell.
  - Wiremu
    
    Don’t know who I would prefer at 12 but how the hell can you play attacking footy with Barnes there? Maybe its Dingos obsession to defend rather than attack that keeps him there. Have you noticed that every time Barnes kicks the ball he immediately dives back to fullback or corner flags. How the hell can he attack from there. Someone should let him and Dingo know that he’s certainly no Israil Dagg when it comes to counter attacking.
    - Steve
      
      Given everyone fit I would suggest
      
      9. Genia
      10. Cooper
      11. Ioane
      12. CL
      13. AAC
      14. Ships
      15. Beale
      
      20. White
      21. Mccabe/Taps
      22. JOC
      
      Nothing against JOC, just think he would be effective coming on later and running riot.
    - Hooper for 12
      
      Steve – who is CL? Carl Lewis??
      
      I would like to see Hooper and Higgers trained up as the longterm 12 and 13 combo. Would defend like Trojans with plenty of pace and direct thrust in attack.
Brax

I like the look of the team and unlike the majority of people who visit these pages I’m just going to get right behind my national team & will take great pleasure in seeing them make history by beating the Bok’s 5 games straight, whilst holding onto the Mandela Plate.

Go Wallabies!
- Dave
  
  Good on ya Brax! I’m there with ya!
- rae1
  
  Shot Brax! im a kiwi yet i have not lost faith in the wallabies and i am sure they will bring the mongrel on saturday against the boks.The wallabies are the second best rugby team in the world and i am sure they will prove why that is.Beware the wounded animal!
Mart

Can’t complain about this team at all.

Selections all look good!!

Would’ve liked to see this at the start of the RC with Pocock, But hey.
RJ

All that Deans needs to do is select Link as the coach and we might even have something that resembles a team.

Also, Tapuai (best back in the comp before he got injured) for Barnes, Slipper (never gives up scrum penalties) for Alexander and swap Higgers and Samo (best impact player we got) and I think we’ve got ourselves a winning team.
- mark conley
  
  Slipper instead of Alexander and Higginbotham how he gets in the 22 i’m amazed, so many here with a hard-on for him that i can’t fathom, he’s ineffective, drops the ball stands too wide, he’s easy to identify so that maybe the reason. A good trick when trying to be graded is to wear some clothing that ‘stands out’ must be why he gets any raps at all.
  Tapuai? when will he be ready, best 12 we’ve got!
REDinCPT

i like…
specialist wingers and shipperley selected in the starting 15. can’t see any point in having a specialist winger on the bench and in my opinion shipperley is the best option here.
4/3 bench split.
horne out.
moore starting.

i dislike…
no outside back replacement on the bench. i really don’t like all the crazy backline reshuffling that happens throughout the game.
no lock replacement on the bench. i would like to see samo or dennis on the bench as cover for 4/5/6/8. it seems a poor selection to me to start both of these guys and shift one or both of them into lock part way through the game. i don’t think higginbotham can play lock? again with the crazy reshuffling.
would have liked to have seen tapuai in the mix instead of harris.
cummins could have been given a go. maybe next time after being in the squad for a few more weeks?
would have liked to have seen slipper given a start.
Fitri

This is simply the line up i would go with current players we have.
NTA

Another change not mentioned: TPN back for S Finger.

Boks will be hurting after Mendoza and it’ll be tough – they have good support in Perth and will want to lift in the absence of Bismarck and possibly Strauss, though missing those two guys will hurt them.

Is Dom. Is Good. Bok back three have pace which we have lacked lately and he fits the mould.

Barnes there for kicking. Steyn will bomb in anything he can get his hands on and could win them the match. We need to punish their infringements to get them on the back foot.

Who is the ref?
- Brumby Jack
  
  Nigel Owens will be the ref. Barnes and Jackson the AR’s.
  
  Another point to note is that it’s been pouring with rain with a lot of wind and thunderstorms in Perth this week.
  
  Forecast is fine for Saturday though, but might be too late to dry out the field.
  - Dave
    
    Owens as ref. That’s all right. He’s decent most of the time but made a few poor decisions at Eden Park that cost the WBs a couple of opportunities. Maybe he’ll want to make amends? One can only hope.
boutbloodytime

This looks like a well balanced starting XV with players in their best positions (AAC at 13, Horne out & some pace on the wing) and a side that can likely do the job….much more attacking options in the backline & it will be good to see how Hooper fronts up against the Saffers at the breakdown.

Hopefully Slipper gets a decent run & Higgers tears it up when he comes on against a tiring SA side later in the game….this looks like a team that can play at pace & get some confidence back into our game…just hope our scrum holds up!

C’mon Wallabies
murph

So Horne is finally dropped, but only after the Bledisloe is gone. Yet another centre combination that never should have occurred has wasted the opportunity to build up one that has a chance of working.

Of course, in typical Deans style, every good decision must be offset with a poor one. What has Dennis done that justifies his selection over Higginbotham? The lineout options are reduced even further now.
- Chucka
  
  Dennis plays inside the 13 which we are going to need against the Boks……. Bench is the best spot for Higgers this week!!
  
  As for Horne he could have A Fingers bench spot and you wouldn’t know the difference
- Nipper
  
  Perhaps the question is “what has Higganbotham done to continue to get selected?”
- Fin
  
  Murph, Horne was allowed to trade on potential rather than performance for far too long and Higginbotham is starting to fall into the same category. It’s only your loyalty to the Reds that makes you see them differently.
  
  Is Higgers potentially the best 6 in the country? Yes. Does he often fall short of this potential? Yes.
  
  Deans has made a call and given Higginbotham a chance to prove hoim wrong. I hope he does. But I have my doubts.
Lee Enfield

It has taken injuries, the loss of the Bledisloe and threat of the chop for Deans to finally start picking the best players in their best positions.
The backline is good, though Barnes should be playing for his spot.
The forwards, I think Alexander and Robinson are a mistake and Dennis at 6 is a mistake, all three should be playing for their spots this weekend.
Would have preferred to see Slipper and Ryan start, with Higgers at 6
On the bench would have had Alexander and Dennis, with Gill and TPN. In the backs would have had Harris, Tapuai and Morahan on the bench.
Pedro

How many selection problems would be solved by omitting Phipps? Can you even get odds on him not being played. I can see the sense in having a back up scrum half, but by my count, just this year we’ve had six games where the backup wasn’t used.
first time long time

I feel like a cracked record but if you don’t have a back up halfback you are going to use as an impact player eg the kiwis since rugby went professional you need utility eg lucas or dare I say it Giteau.
Does anyone know the real reason why he was cut.? I have only heard rumours.
We always pick one guy who will not get on the field which puts that little bit more pressure on the rest.
Coodabeenawesome

The busy marshmallow at 3. WTF! Will never achieve anything in forwards without a real TH
Bally Moore

AAC where he should be. Dont get any pleasure out of knocking Horne cause i reckon he is solid, but just not the answer. Forget the injuries, Shipperly deserves the call up on merit, modern day Ben Tune. Bring JoC back into 12 and hope for Kurtley to rediscover form, and thats about your best back line full stop.

Have to agree re comments on props though – far from my expertise, but dont get how Bens are our best two..? is it experience with Moore and Taf..? Is it more important to finish with strong props…?
Kevin of Melbourne

I am a Rebels fan and the last place I would play JOC for the Wallabies is at 12, he did not impress from 12 all year.

Good to see that Deans is finally given guys who perform a shot with Shipperly. I love Sharpie but I think Deans should let him retire and give one of the many young locks a shot, Wallabies can’t win the RC and have a chance to blood the guys from the extended squad now. Would love to see Hugh Pyle get a shot, he has been one of the Rebels best in the last two seasons and can go along way.
James

Beale shouldnt be there, i don’t think you can go from unfit and not there mentally to being back to top form on the back of 2 weeks in camp dingo…

And even as a rabid Qld fan – Cummins should be in the mix somewhere!! At least on the bench! More versatility, more impact, more hair.

Benny A, no comment needed.
http://twitter.com/sethjnz sethjnz

If the pack play well Australia will win – if not they’ll lose. So pretty much the same as every other test for the last 100 years. Who plays right wing isn’t going to decide the test.
- RJ
  
  So didnt watch the Tah’s vs Reds in SYdney this year? Pretty sure the right winger decided that match).
Pie Thrower

Damn it. Deans has gone and picked a team that most of us are probably happy with (mostly). There are no total shocking selections. Who are we going to blame if we get our arses handed to us on Saturday night now??
- Lee Enfield
  
  Deans’ tactics and use of the bench, and if all else fails, Waratahitis.
- Red Kev
  
  You’re happy with Ben Alexander and Benn Robinson???
  - Pie Thrower
    
    Mostly happy I said. Let’s just take baby steps shall we?
DC

No Horne?? My god I thought this day would never come.
- Pie Thrower
  
  I’ve got a horne over this news. Made my day.
  - DC
    
    Yeah maybe you should just ‘rob’ it off now
mattyinred

Gotta agree with Bally Moore – AAC should be left at OC. He is a great defender and links superbly. Long term take out Barnes slot in Tapuai or even better JOC we finally have a back line.

As for the forwards we need to look at their nutrition – ground up cement would be a start.

Can we go a bit left field with our props – Slipper and Paddy Ryan (reds supporter but I remember the last derby – he was brill). Second row – Sharpie deserves to be there – great year. Timani was great against the blacks – so agree with the selections.

As for the backrow I remember commenting on an article last year and saying we aint got it right – still reckon other than Hooper it still isnt right. Challenge is what are our options?????

Being a reds supporter I would like to say higgers but reckon he actually tries to much to often – Mowen – possibly; Brown – NO, Schatz – too young; etc, etc, etc

We need a wrecking ball No. 8 with soft hands and a defensive dynamo at 6.

On another note – I saw this site attack Spiro this week about his comments on Deans – yet no comment on the idea of the ARU getting final approval on the Provincial coaches and the capability to dictate certain parts of development – disappointing guys – this for me was a bigger story but hasn’t been touched.
- Queenslander
  
  OMG ARU central control of Supe XV coach selections after the Deans debacle, dear oh dear
Gunner

Watch Hooper go. I reckon 7′s have become too tight, Pocock steals good ball but what happens then? We could never consistently use the advantage, Hooper can steal but will play looser and link with the backs more effectively, but beware the Bok back row are excellent. Go Wallabies.
- Pedro
  
  So what you’re saying is play hooper and gill together. I agree.
  - murph
    
    I dunno. Sort of agree but you can’t play them together if Timani is there because of the weak lineout.
Jkb

Only took deans the loss of the BC to pick the correct back line. Alexander is a penalty machine and Slipper should be starting. Dennis has negative mongrel and no pace. He is the Horne of the forward pack. Tapuai should be on the bench instead of Harris.
- RJ
  
  You wont be saying that if we’re 1 point down on the buzzer with a penalty 45 out on the side line.
  - Pedro
    
    Big call, assuming deans would’ve used the bench by that stage of the match.
inkosi

Happy with the team, now as long as we have a game plan that they can execute we’ll win this!

Both teams have everything to play for, should be a cracker!
Blinky Bill of Bellingen

We have some exciting backs right there who can get the fans off their seats IF they get quick clean ball. ;)

Two questions:
1. Can our forwards aim up and match the Saffers in the collisions, kick offs, lineouts, etc, etc. If not our backs will catch a cold.

2. Will Robbie finally have the Wallabies playing ‘our style’ or will it go back to boot it and hope? :(

Hopefully it’ll be a contest of two contrasting approaches to Rugby. Could be a good game of footy.
warwick todd

I did no get to see much of the S15 this year however I did manage to watch a couple of Brumbies games and Andrew Smith seems to go really well. His is big, strong and fast. Is this guy worth consideration as a Wallaby 13?

Just curious.
- Pedro
  
  I think so, especially considering the lack of good options at 13 and size in general in the back line. I’m pretty sure he got in the top few in line breaks and meters amongst aussie backs. Plus he can off load.
  - Mart
    
    They should try him out for sure.
    
    Like Aluea at 8.
    
    Either way, you not gonna miss out on anything anyone else brings with these guys.
Jets

I think this team can do the job. Just hope the scrum holds up. Lineout may continue to be an issue as without Higgers they loose a jumping option. Timani needs to be used just so the opposition have to mark him.
I’m quite happy with the backline. If we can get quick ball they will be hard to contain but with the tendency of the Wallaby forwards to stop over the ball at the breakdown this wont happen. Hopefully Genia just throws the ball to Cooper as soon as possible, like Smith does for the AB’s, and the space will be found.
Really like Shipperly on the wing. He has really good skills and has stood up every time he has been elevated.
the ardent b’stard

liking this better – backline that might get the ball to the wings, although not sure Beale is test rugby fit, tight five could do with Slipper added then looks solid, that loose trio will not compete with any southern hemisphere teams however, and higgie not the answer. No terrors off the bench for SA.
Bobby

Still trying to figure out why Benn Robinson is still there. In 5 games of test Rugbythis year he has shown he fat, unfit and not effective. He needs to be dropped and told to shape up in the off season. Slipper or Holmes played great rugby this year and should have earnt a spot in this 15.
Bobas

I don’t know what everyone has against benny alexander, he’s no Baxter.
If slipper starts he will just become the myth that higginbotham has become since we were calling for brown and mcalman ‘s heads.

the real problem this year has been the backline… lack of tries lack of points. NZ will score 20 odd points a game, we gotta score 30 odd.

We cant win with zero. Its mathematically impossible, unless the other team forfeits…
@ro_wine

Where will AAC play next week, blindside breakaway. Poor bastards been in more positions than that old bird in Sex and the City.

Why hasn’t he been our 13 for 4yrs? Scored one of the best tries against the Blacks in Hong Kong. Fark the Robbie Deans dartboard selections continue.
bill

No specialist second rower on the bench. Not the best choice. I don’t get it, thought it was pretty apparent last game we needed fresh legs there at the 60 min mark. If we have an injury our scrum is going to be depowered. I like Faingaa, but we should have that second rower in his bench spot.

As it is Samo would be the best 2nd row cover out of that bunch and presumably he’s only playing 50 minutes.

Who knows maybe Slipper or Taf are going to be 2nd row cover?

Interesting seeing Barnes say they never got a chance to play attacking rugby last game, they did they just f*ked it up. Again and again.

Wallabies v. Springboks: Team announcement

About the author: Brumby Jack View all posts by Brumby Jack

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