Australian coach Robbie Deans has announced his squad to take on the All Blacks in Sydney this Saturday, with the coach opting for consistency from the June internationals, allowing Berrick Barnes to start at flyhalf.
Sport24.com reports that Deans has omitted Quade Cooper once again, meaning the star flyhalf will now miss the fifth test match since injuring himself in the Rugby World Cup, almost a year ago.
The only changes from the last test match against Wales in Dave Dennis coming into the starting team, while Scott Higginbotham moves to the back of the scrum to replace the injured Wycliff Palu. Anthony Fainga’a comes into midfield for this clash, as the rest of the team remains unchanged.
David Pocock has retained the captaincy while Nathan Sharpe continues to delay his retirement in the second row.
Australia: 15 Kurtley Beale, 14 Adam Ashley-Cooper, 13 Rob Horne, 12 Anthony Fainga’a, 11 Digby Ioane, 10 Berrick Barnes, 9 Will Genia, 8 Scott Higginbotham, 7 David Pocock (captain) 6 Dave Dennis, 5 Nathan Sharpe, 4 Sitaleki Timani, 3 Sekope Kepu, 2 Tatafu Polota Nau, 1 Benn Robinson
Substitutes: 16 Stephen Moore, 17 James Slipper, 18 Rob Simmons, 19 Radike Samo, 20 Michael Hooper, 21 Nick Phipps, 22 Drew Mitchell
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Nice to see Drew back in action.