Friday’s rugby news has James Horwill to start for the Wallabies, Rooster’s coach observing the Wallabies, Dan Carter returns for the All Blacks and Springboks team announced.
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Horwill to Start
Former Wallabies captain James Horwill has replaced Sam Carter in the Wallabies starting team to face France this weekend. Horwill is the only change in the starting side to the one that played Wales last weekend.
Cheika has been impressed with Horwill’s performance against the Barbarians and his performance off the bench against Wales. He is yet to name the reserves.
Sekope Kepu will also start to make his 50th appearance for the Wallabies. He becomes the 6th Wallaby prop to achieve 50 test caps.
“Sekope has been a great player for Australian rugby over a long period of time and I speak for everyone when I congratulate him on this very special milestone,” said Wallabies coach Michael Cheika.
“He has proudly represented the Wallabies for seven years and the experience he now brings to this team is invaluable. He still has plenty of improvement in his game and I’m confident his best years of rugby are ahead of him.”
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Rooster’s Coach Observes Wallabies
Rooster’s coach Trent Robinson has spent the past few days observing the Wallabies. Robinson was originally supposed to join Cheika on a tour of the US and Europe for coaching ideas but after Cheika became Wallabies coach Robinson decided to join him on tour for a short while.
“For me there was never any doubt about how he’d go,” Robinson said.
“He works hard and has had success in Europe and the Southern Hemisphere. He knows his philosophy and what the players needs are.
“It’s not that you come here looking for stuff … If you’re looking for stuff it means you’re probably insecure in your own philosophy. You know what you’re going to do but you’re open to ideas. I wasn’t looking for anything in particular, just observing and hoping there might be something that could trigger some little thoughts, maybe remind you of something you do that you want to emphasise.”
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Carter Returns for All Blacks
Dan Carter will make his return to the All Blacks starting side this weekend against Scotland. Since his return from injury Carter has played off the bench against the USA Eagles but was left out of the 23 for the All Blacks match against England last weekend.
Hansen has selected a largely experimental side to take on the Scots. Hooker James Parsons will make his starting debut whilst Jerome Kaino and Kieran Read have been rested which allows Same Cane and Victor Vito to start.
The side also includes a new back three which features Colin Slade and Charles Piutau on the wings and Ben Smith at fullback.
“Though we have made changes to our team, there is an expectation that those who fill the jersey will deliver quality performances” said All Blacks coach Steve Hansen.
All Blacks Team: Ben Smith, Colin Slade, Malakai Fekitoa, Ryan Crotty, Charle Piutau, Dan Carter, TJ Perenara, Victor Vito, Sam Cane, Richie McCaw, Dominic Bird, Jeremy Thrush, Charlie Faumuina, James Parsons, Joe Moody. Replacements: Dane Coles, Wyatt Crockett, Ben Franks, Luke Romano, Liam Messam, Augustin Pulu, Sonny Bill Williams, Julian Savea.
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Springboks Team Announced
The Springboks have made five changes for this weekend’s match against England. Among the changes include Pat Lambie at flyhalf whilst youngster Handre Pollard is demoted to the bench.
JP Pietersen, Schalk Burger and Adriaan Strauss have all been recalled into the starting lineup.
“Pat started at Twickenham for us two years ago and did very well,” said Springboks coach Heyneke Meyer.
“He’s playing well at the moment and I wanted to give him the opportunity to start. Pat is tactically very astute and even though he’s still pretty young, he’s got a lot of experience.
“Adriaan, Schalk and JP have all started a number of Tests this year and they will slot in easily – we decided beforehand that we wanted to start all of these players in one of the first two Tests on tour.”
Springboks Team: Willie le Roux, JP Pietersen, Jan Serfontein, Jean de Villiers (capt), Bryan Habana, Pat Lambie, Cobus Reinach, Duane Vermeulen, Schalk Burger, Marcell Coetzee, Victor Matfield, Eben Etzebeth, Jannie du Plessis, Adriaan Strauss, Tendai
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