Michael Cheika has named his 34-man Wallabies squad for the June series, with a lot of big stars missing and a lot of debutants
Big names like Scott Fardy, Rob Simmons, Kane Douglas, Rob Horne and Will Skelton have all missed out. Meanwhile, Ned Hanigan, Marika Koroibete, Richard Hardwick, Joe Powell, Jack Dempsey, Eto Nabuli, Lukhan Tui and Karmichael Hunt are new to the Wallaby set up.
Kurtley Beale, who’s slated to return to the Waratahs/Australian rugby before the end of the Super season, is being rested.
The squad features just 10 players from the 23-man Wallabies squad for the 2015 World Cup final.
“We’ve got to back our young players that are coming through and are putting form on the board,” Cheika said on Fox Sports’ Kick & Chase (via rugby.com.au), where he made the announcement. “This is a strategy we want to pursue.
“That doesn’t mean – you can see some of our experienced players are there as well but young players are putting their hand up and showing that they want to be a part of it.”
When asked about the missing stars, Cheika said:
“I said to those guys when they decided to choose a departure that we’re not here to bite off nose despite our face. Our position is more like if we thought we were going to pick one of those guys in the starting team, then we’ll bring them in.
“Around the squad as a whole, it’s an opportunity then to get a taste for some younger guys who will be here in ‘18 and ‘19 and who we think will benefit from being in and around the squad and maybe getting game time.
“I think that’s a pretty sound philosophy. We’re looking at form – Would that player be picked in the starting test team right now? – and decide from there.”
Props
Allan Ala’alatoa (Brumbies), Sekope Kepu (Waratahs), Tom Robertson (Waratahs), Scott Sio (Brumbies), Toby Smith (Rebels)
Hookers
Tolu Latu (Waratahs), Stephen Moore (c) (Reds), Tatafu Polota-Nau (Force)
Second Row
Rory Arnold (Brumbies), Sam Carter (Brumbies), Adam Coleman (Force), Lukhan Tui (Reds)
Backrow
Jack Dempsey (Waratahs), Ned Hanigan (Waratahs), Richard Hardwick (Force), Scott Higginbotham (Reds), Michael Hooper (Waratahs), Lopeti Timani (Rebels)
Scrumhalves
Will Genia (Stade Francais), Nick Phipps (Waratahs), Joe Powell (Brumbies)
Flyhalves
Quade Cooper (Reds), Bernard Foley (Waratahs)
Centres
Kyle Godwin (Brumbies), Reece Hodge (Rebels), Samu Kerevi (Reds), Tevita Kuridrani (Brumbies)
Backs
Dane Haylett-Petty (Force), Karmichael Hunt (Reds), Israel Folau (Waratahs), Marika Koroibete (Rebels), Eto Nabuli (Reds), Sefa Naivalu (Rebels), Henry Speight (Brumbies)
