Wallabies named. Deans pleads insanity

They say that the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different outcome.  If that’s the case then Robbie should be looking over his shoulder for the men in white coats.  In the end, the Aussie selectors have been left with little choice but to stick with the same front row as last week for Saturday’s 2^nd test against England.

Ben Daley and Saia Faingaa, from the Reds, will once again team up with Salesi Ma’afu, from the Brumbies, as they attempt the impossible – preventing the Wallaby scrum form being steam rolled.  It is a difficult argument to support for anyone that saw the absolute mauling received by our rookie trio against their unheralded English counterparts.

Even if you didn’t see the game, you couldn’t have missed the countless column inches it generated. Even our own site had article after article after article after article asking the questions and then trying to find the answers.

I suspect the same guys have been stuck with for two reasons. (1) they are the last men standing and (2) combination. The second point is probably more relevant than the first as it was blatantly obvious that it was what we lacked last weekend.  Salesi was going that way, Dales this way, Sharpie was down, Mummy was up and the back rowers were doing anything but scrummaging.  If we don’t see any improvement in this aspect alone we should be saying “Adios” to Pato Noriega and “How much do you want?” to Axel Foley.

The changes to the rest of the team are minimal and to be expected.

Will Genia reclaims his starting spot, after watching last week’s game from the bench. This is unfortunate for Luke Burgess, who was excellent last week, but perhaps a necessity given that Genia’s slicker service will be needed from a back peddling scrum.

Adam Ashley-Cooper comes back from injury via the bench, replacing Peter Hynes, after James O’Connor’s excellent recent form.

Matt Giteau is straight back into the starting line-up for Berrick Barnes. This may be due to Gits’s greater experience or his superior goal kicking game. Or it may be because ol’ Sookface got caught up in all the hype surrounding the Soccer World Cup and insisted on booting the ball down field every time he got in on Tuesday night for the Barbarians.

The Wallaby team in full is:

The test will be played at Sydney’s ANZ Stadium and kick off is 8pm (AEST) on Saturday night!