The return of David Pocock, Stephen Moore and Berrick Barnes headlines the 30-man squad for the end-of-year tour that has been announced.
For once Robbie Deans has a positive selection headache with the return of Pocock who will battle Michael Hooper and Liam Gill for the openside flanker position.
Also returning is Barnes, who is coming back after suffering a punctured lung in the loss to South Africa in Pretoria. Hopefully his time with the All Blacks will reveal some interesting secrets.
The other big inclusion sees hooker Stephen Moore return from a hamstring injury. He will join Tatafu Polota-Nau and newly capped Wallaby James Hanson as tourists. Hanson takes the place of Saia Fainga’a whose broken hand has kept him off the tour.
Sekope Kepu and Sitaleki Timani have overcome niggling injuries from the All Blacks game and will take their place on tour.
One notable exclusion is Scott Higginbotham, who was recently suspended for a run-in with Lord Darkness Richie McCaw and would have missed at least two of the four games on tour.
The return of Wycliff Palu and Pocock has given Deans some confidence that he will be able to cover Higginbotham’s absence, with Higginbotham on standby should any injuries occur.
The tour has added importance in the make-up for world ranking positions, with the final seedings for the 2015 World Cup to be determined following the tour.
The squad:
Ben Alexander, Adam Ashley-Cooper, Berrick Barnes, Kurtley Beale, Nick Cummins, Dave Dennis, Kane Douglas, Anthony Fainga’a, Liam Gill, James Hanson, Mike Harris, Michael Hooper, Digby Ioane, Sekope Kepu, Pat McCabe, Drew Mitchell, Stephen Moore, Wycliff Palu, Nick Phipps, David Pocock, Tatafu Polota-Nau, Benn Robinson, Paddy Ryan, Radike Samo, Nathan Sharpe (c), Brett Sheehan, Rob Simmons, James Slipper, Ben Tapuai, Sitaleki Timani.
Fixtures:
Wallabies v. France, Stade de France, Paris – Saturday 10 Nov 9:00pm (7:00am AEDT Sunday 11 Nov)
Wallabies v. England, Twickenham, London – Saturday 17 Nov 2:30pm (1:30am AEDT Sunday 18 Nov)
Wallabies v. Italy, Franchi Stadium, Florence – Saturday 24 Nov 3:00pm (1:00am AEDT Sunday 25 Nov)
Wallabies v. Wales, Millennium Stadium, Cardiff – Saturday 1 Dec 2:30pm (1:30am AEDT Sunday 2 Dec)
The opposition the Wallabies will face during the end of year tour have announced their squads for their end of year matches.
FRANCE:
Forwards: Eddy Ben Arous, Thomas Domingo, Yannick Forestier, Benjamin Kayser, Christopher Tolofua, Dimitri Szarzewski, David Attoub, Vincent Debaty, Nicolas Mas, Yoann Maestri, Pascal Papé (Captain), Jocelino Suta, Sébastien Vahaamahina, Damien Chouly, Yannick Nyanga, Pierrick Gunther , Wenceslas Lauret, Fulgence Ouedraogo, Louis Picamoles.
Backs: Maxime Machenaud, Morgan Parra, Frédéric Michalak, Jules Plisson, François Trinh-Duc, Vincent Clerc, Brice Dulin, Benjamin Fall, Gaël Fickou, Wesley Fofana, Florian Fritz, Yoann Huget, Vincent Martin, Maxime Mermoz.
ENGLAND:
Forwards: Mouritz Botha, Dan Cole, James Haskell, Phil Dowson, Dylan Hartley, Tom Johnson, Courtney Lawes, Joe Marler, Ben Morgan, Tom Palmer, Geoff Parling, Chris Robshaw, Mako Vunipola, Thomas Waldrom, David Wilson, Tom Wood, Tom Youngs.
Backs: Anthony Allen, Chris Ashton, Brad Barritt, Mike Brown, Danny Care, Lee Dickson, Owen Farrell, Toby Flood, Alex Goode, Jonathan Joseph, Ugo Monye, Charlie Sharples, Manusamoa Tuilagi, Jordan Turner-Hall, Ben Youngs.
ITALY:
Forwards: Robert Barbieri, Mauro Bergamasco, Martin Castrogiovanni, Lorenzo Cittadini, Alberto De Marchi, Paul Derbyshire, Simone Favaro, Joshua Furno, Quintin Geldenhuys, Leonardo Ghiraldini, Davide Giazzon, Andrea Lo Cicero, Francesco Minto, Sergio Parisse, Antonio Pavanello, Michele Rizzo, Alessandro Zanni.
Backs: Tommaso Benvenuti, Mirco Bergamasco, Tobias Botes, Kristopher Burton, Gonzalo Canale, Edoardo Gori, Tommaso Iannone, Andrea Masi, Luke McLean, Luca Morisi, Luciano Orquera, Alberto Sgarbi, Giovanbattista Venditti.
WALES:
Forwards: S Andrews, R Bevington, P James, A Jarvis, G Jenkins, A Jones, R Hibbard, K Owens, M Rees, B Davies, L Charteris, I Evans, A-W Jones, T Faletau, R Jones, R McCusker, A Shingler, J Tipuric, J Turnbull, S Warburton (Captain).
Backs: L Halfpenny, Liam Williams, A Cuthbert, G North, H Robinson, A Beck, J Davies, J Roberts, S Williams, D Biggar, J Hook, R Priestland, T Knoyle, M Phillips, Lloyd Williams.
