Back in business: Wycliff Palu
Wycliff Palu will make his long-awaited return to Australia's line-up for Saturday's Bledisloe Cup clash with New Zealand.
The powerful number eight has recovered from a shoulder injury to take his place in the starting XV in Brisbane.
The inclusion of Palu is one of four changes, with Adam Ashley-Cooper named on the wing after he missed the 25-19 win over Argentina with concussion while flanker Scott Higginbotham and prop Benn Robinson also start. Drew Mitchell is included on the bench.
"Adam has been cleared after the head knock he suffered in Pretoria," said Australia coach Robbie Deans.
"He brings with him all-round skill but also a lot of voice in terms of on-field communication, which will be important with a lot of younger players around him."
Australia will be out to stop New Zealand's 16-Test winning run - with the Wallabies the last side to taste victory over the All Blacks.
"The All Blacks are the benchmark and proved it again through the Rugby Championship," Deans said.
"They are a step up from where we've been, but the guys have shown a lot of resilience over the last two months, and they're excited about the opportunity ahead of them on the weekend."
Australia: 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, 2 Tatafu Polota Nau, 1 Benn Robinson.
Replacements: 16 Saia Fainga'a, 17 James Slipper, 18 Kane Douglas, 19 Dave Dennis, 20 Liam Gill, 21 Brett Sheehan, 22 Drew Mitchell.
Date: Saturday, October 20
Venue: Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane
Kick-off: 20:00 (10:00 GMT)
Referee: Craig Joubert (South Africa)
Assistant referees: Jaco Peyper (South Africa), Lourens van der Merwe (South Africa)
TMO: Matt Goddard (Australia)
Comments
Wallaroo says...
Interesting line-up, only concern is Mike Harris at fullback haven't seen him play there before, having said that he is definitely proving himself as a versatile back.
Go the Wallabies!!!!!
Posted 01:57 17th October 2012
Ferdie says...
Saia Faingaa is out - Timani stood on his hand (broken bone) at training, replaced by un-capped player Queensland's James Hanson
And Wycliff Palu - how long will he last? first game since Wales in June.
Posted 00:32 17th October 2012
TheTruthHurts says...
@georgesmith is pretending to be an Aussie to stir up anti Australian sentiment more than already exists. His posts are suspect and I have been reading them for some time. Best to ignore them people!
Posted 12:36 16th October 2012
Ramage says...
@melkdave your right georgesmith is so far off the mark as to be quite hilarious. All he can do is post on here his hate rubbish views which attack his own players and their coach. He gets these stupid ideas in his empty head and then repeats them ad nauseum..
Posted 10:45 16th October 2012
UBA05 says...
@no. 22 Is that the Drew Mitchell that had a torn achilles supposed to be out for 12 months-ish????
Posted 10:30 16th October 2012
Manusamoa says...
Worst Australian team in history!! LMAO!!
Posted 10:22 16th October 2012
melkdave says...
Myself id have prefered N.Cummings to be at 13 with P.McCabe at 12 ,and D.Mitchel on the wing with B.Tapuia on the bench,with AAC at FB and D.Shiperley on the other wing.But im guessing R.Deans doesnt really wantto risk D.Mitchel who i think is back a tad to soon from his latest injury.Nice to see W.Palu back,looking forward to his bulldozing runs lol
@Georgesmith
Just what are you rambling about,AAC has been the outstanding back for the wallabies so far this season.He always gives a 110%,and made some outstanding try saving tackles this year,and when playing centre much needed go forward.Hasnt done much recently ,do you even watch the matches i wonder???
Posted 09:51 16th October 2012
georgesmith says...
N. Cummins should be 13 and B. Tapuai is the best 12. P. McCabe is an option for fullback or the bench. M. Harris is risky at fullback but as long as he keeps kicking and doesn't miss any then I guess he has to be somewhere on the pitch.
A.A Cooper needs to give fans a big game, lately he has not been doing much good at all. Still N.Sharpe and K. Douglas preferred ahead of R. Simmons which is sad, really! N. Sharpe and R. Deans should hold each other and just jump in the lake.
Posted 08:29 16th October 2012