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….
