Quade Cooper has been dumped to the bench in a backline reshuffle for Australia’s face-saving Bledisloe Cup chance against the All Blacks in Auckland.
While he’s opted for an unchanged forward pack with star loosehead David Pocock to return from injury via the bench, Wallabies coach Michael Cheika has restored Bernard Foley to five-eighth to accommodate Reece Hodge’s strength and skills in his preferred inside centre position.
Cheika kept the All Blacks guessing until midday on match eve of the final trans-Tasman showdown of the year before revealing an exciting, new-look Wallabies backline.
Hodge has been super impressive since making his international debut earlier this season and Australian defence coach Nathan Grey said playing the 22-year-old at No.12 in a powerful Stirling Mortlock-like midfield role made perfect sense.
“We’ve been trying guys in different combinations at training and trying to find the best ways to maximise the talents of the guys that we have,” Grey said.
“He’s got a lot of experience playing in that position at Super Rugby.
“He’s a big body, carries the ball very well and he’s got a good passing game that he uses, and he’s got good speed.
“All those attributes are very positive to have in a 12. He defends there at 12 anyway for us so he’s used to being in that environment.”
But moving Hodge to the midfield has necessitated relegating Cooper and shifting Foley back to five-eighth.
Henry Speight replaces Hodge on the wing, giving the backline more balance with every player playing in their natural positions.
With in-form Will Genia returning to French club rugby, Nick Phipps got the nod over Nick Frisby as the new starting halfback.
Cheika agonised over whether or not to thrust rookie locks Rory Arnold and Adam Coleman into the Eden Park cauldron or recalling the reliable second-row pairing of Kane Douglas and chief lineout caller Rob Simmons.
He eventually kept faith in Coleman and Arnold, while also retaining Lopeti Timani at No.8 after his starring role in Australia’s last-start win over Argentina at Twickenham.
The Wallabies resisted the temptation to rush Pocock straight back into the starting line-up after a month on the sidelines, instead opting to use him as an impact weapon off the bench.
With Pocock returning, there is no room for long-time regular Scott Fardy in the match-day 23.
The Wallabies are bidding to break a 30-year hoodoo at Eden Park as well as deny the All Blacks a world-record 18th consecutive Test win.
Wallabies: Israel Folau, Dane Haylett-Petty, Samu Kerevi, Reece Hodge, Henry Speight, Bernard Foley, Nick Phipps, Lopeti Timani, Michael Hooper, Dean Mumm, Adam Coleman, Rory Arnold, Sekope Kepu, Stephen Moore (capt), Scott Sio. Reserves: James Hanson, Tom Robertson, Allan Ala’alatoa, Rob Simmons, David Pocock, Nick Frisby, Quade Cooper, Sefa Naivalu.
