Squad skipper Stirling Mortlock returns among a number of changes to the Qantas Wallabies starting XV for Saturday night’s keenly anticipated Test against France in the Bundaberg Rum Rugby Series.
Mortlock, fullback Adam Ashley-Cooper, winger Drew Mitchell, flyhalf Matt Giteau, No 8 Richard Brown, lock Nathan Sharpe, hooker Stephen Moore and props Al Baxter and Benn Robinson have all been reinstated to the starting XV for the one off Test at Sydney’s ANZ Stadium, after not having been required during last weekend’s 34-12 win over Italy at Melbourne.
They take the starting places of Ryan Cross, James O’Connor, Peter Hynes, Quade Cooper, David Pocock, Peter Kimlin, Tatafu Polota-Nau, Ben Alexander and Pek Cowan respectively.
O’Connor, Cross, Pocock, Polota-Nau and Alexander move to the run on reserves bench; while Hynes, Cooper, Kimlin and Cowan have all been omitted from the match night squad.
This quartet will be released to turn out for their clubs on Saturday along with fellow squad members, Lote Tuqiri and Timana Tahu.
“This is the combination we feel will serve us best this weekend,” Qantas Wallabies coach Robbie Deans says.
“We got a lot out of last week’s game in Melbourne and certainly weren’t disappointed with the effort of any of the players involved. That outing has allowed us to broaden our depth in terms of exposing other players to Test match conditions. We will see the benefits of that moving forward.”
The nine returning players bring with them a collective total of 397 caps, making this weekend’s combination a vastly more experienced unit than that which beat Italy in the second Test.
Then, Australia fielded a starting XV which collectively boasted just 198 caps, 97 of which had been earned by one player, the stand-in captain, George Smith.
Ten of the players named in the run on side today started when the Qantas Wallabies beat France 18-13 during the two teams’ most recent meeting in Paris last November, although some were in different positions.
Drew Mitchell was a fullback then, but will start on the left wing this time; Mortlock is at centre after playing inside centre seven months ago, while Adam Ashley-Cooper is at fullback after playing centre in Paris.
Ashley-Cooper lines up for his 26th Test, displacing the 18-year-old O’Connor in the fullback position, after a two-try, and man of the match, performance coming off the bench in Melbourne.
Australia’s win in Paris last year, which was its first on French soil in eight years, allowed the Wallabies to successfully retain the Trophée Des Bicentenaires, after the two-nil series win in Australia earlier in 2008.
The Wallabies have since kicked on in 2009, running up 125 points, and 18 tries, through the first three matches that the team has played this year.
Although happy with all his side has achieved during its three wins to open the 2009 Bundaberg Rum Rugby Series, Deans tempered the excitement by saying the performance bar will have to be raised significantly from this point.
“The Barbarians and the Italians provided us with a good opening to the season; we had three quality work outs, but there is no doubt that they were a level down on what is coming,” Deans says.
“You only have to look as far back as the last two weeks, and what the French achieved in New Zealand, to see what a massive threat they will be.”
Australia has conceded just two tries in 240 minutes of action so far this year, but Deans still warned a step up in the overall intensity of his side’s play would be required.
“There’s no doubt that what we have produced so far this year won’t be good enough moving forward,” Deans says.
“The French are coming off a series where they have created a bit of history, by picking up some silverware in New Zealand. They’ll be buoyed by that, which will make them incredibly dangerous as the French have always been a very spiritual team. You can guarantee that they will throw everything at this game as it’s their last one before a break. The players will be looking to make sure there’s nothing left in the gas tank once they’ve finished on Saturday night.”
Although France lost 10-14 to New Zealand in difficult conditions at Wellington last weekend, it still captured the Dave Gallaher Cup for the first time since its inception courtesy of a 27-22 success a week earlier in Dunedin.
France began its tour of New Zealand without a number of players who still had commitments in the French Top 14 club finals. Those players joined the team prior to last week, which allows French coach Marc Lievremont to field his strongest possible combination in Sydney.
The additional time the full squad has spent together, both prior to the second Test in New Zealand, and since the side arrived in Sydney, will also have proved beneficial.
“They’ll be better for the time they’ve had together, there’s no doubt about that,” Deans says.
Although the Qantas Wallabies coach guided Australia to its three-nil sweep over France in his first season in the position last year, that result holds little relevance to what lies ahead this weekend, aside from providing the tourists with additional motivation, he says.
“The French won’t have enjoyed the outcomes when we met last year. I’m sure they will see Saturday night as an opportunity to gain a little payback, while building on the confidence that they have gained out of the series against the All Blacks.”
The Test is the 25th to have been played by the Wallabies at the Olympic Stadium since rugby union debuted at the ground when Australia beat England 22-15 in 1999.
Australia’s return from Tests at Homebush Bay currently stands at 20 wins and four defeats with England (2003 Rugby World Cup final) and New Zealand (2000, 2003 & 2005) the only visiting sides to have prevailed at the venue.
The Qantas Wallabies team to play France in the Bundaberg Rum Rugby Series at ANZ Stadium, Sydney on Saturday 27 June (8pm kick off, AEST), is:
15. Adam Ashley-Cooper (Brumbies)
14. Lachie Turner (NSW Waratahs)
13. Stirling Mortlock (Brumbies, captain)
12. Berrick Barnes (Queensland Reds)
11. Drew Mitchell (Western Force)
10. Matt Giteau (Brumbies)
9. Luke Burgess (NSW Waratahs)
8. Richard Brown (Western Force)
7. George Smith (Brumbies)
6. Dean Mumm (NSW Waratahs)
5. Nathan Sharpe (Western Force)
4. James Horwill (Queensland Reds)
3. Al Baxter (NSW Waratahs)
2. Stephen Moore (Brumbies)
1. Benn Robinson (NSW Waratahs)
Run on reserves:
16. Tatafu Polota-Nau (NSW Waratahs)
17. Ben Alexander (Brumbies)
18. Phil Waugh (NSW Waratahs)
19. David Pocock (Western Force)
20. Josh Valentine (Western Force)
21. Ryan Cross
(Western Force)
22. James O'Connor (Western Force)
Australia v France – Historical Notes
* This will be the 40th Test between teams representing Australia and France, dating back to the inaugural meeting between a touring New South Wales side and France in Paris in 1928, which the visiting side won 11-8. This match was awarded Test status by the ARU. Australia has won 21 matches and France 16, with two previous draws. There have been eighteen previous meetings on Australian soil, with the Wallabies winning thirteen, France four, and one drawn.
* The two teams have played on 11 occasions in Sydney, with Australia winning seven, France three, and the 1972 encounter being drawn 14-14.
* Last year, Australia beat France 34-13 in Sydney, with Matt Giteau, Nathan Sharpe, Stirling Mortlock and Rocky Elsom scoring the tries. Alexis Palisson was the sole French try-scorer that evening.
* Robbie Deans guided the Qantas Wallabies to three consecutive wins over France last term – 34-13 in Sydney, 40-10 in Brisbane and 18-13 in Paris. That is the second greatest number of consecutive wins Australia has ever had against France; being bettered only by the stretch between 1993 and 2000 when the Wallabies won six straight against the French.
* France’s most recent win in Sydney was a 28-19 success in the third Test of the 1990 series at the Sydney Football Stadium. Their previous success in the city was the shock 30-24 victory over the Wallabies in the 1987 Rugby World Cup semi-final at Concord Oval.
* The most recent match between the two teams in Australia – at Brisbane last July – saw Australia record its highest winning margin against a French side, in posting a 40-10 victory.
* The record for the most tries by an Australian player in a Test against France is two. It is shared by six players – including Stirling Mortlock and Ryan Cross. Cross scored his double during the Brisbane Test last year. Only David Campese (with five) has scored more tries for Australia against France than Mortlock, who has three.
* Flanker George Smith will play his 99th Test, and his 11th against Les Bleus, which ties the tally achieved by Jason Little between 1989 and 1999 for the most by any Australian against France. Smith began his Test career against France at Paris in 2000.
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