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Named: Wallabies side to play Wales

Michael Cheika wants Samu Kerevi to show what he can do when Australia, boosted by the inclusion of Bernard Foley and Will Genia, take on Wales this weekend.

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After scoring two tries during the 63-30 victory over Japan in Yokohama on Saturday, Kerevi has been retained in the starting XV at centre ahead of Karmichael Hunt.

“I think Samu’s a very, very good player and I know he hasn’t had it all his way this year so I’m eager to see him fight back and hold a spot in the team,” head coach Cheika said.

“A really good thing for us is we’ve got options around how we can set up because Karmichael can go to full-back or centre, Samu can go 12 or 13, [Reece] Hodge can play pretty much anywhere now, and [Kurtley] Beale can play 12, full-back or fly-half if we need.”

Fly-half Foley and scrum-half Genia have recovered from illness and a calf injury respectively to start at the Principality Stadium on Saturday, where Beale will play at full-back in the absence of Israel Folau, who is taking a break from the game for the remainder of the year.

Wallabies: Kurtley Beale, Marika Koroibete, Tevita Kuridrani, Samu Kerevi, Reece Hodge, Bernard Foley, Will Genia; Scott Sio, Tatafu Polota-Nau, Sekope Kepu, Rob Simmons, A Coleman, Ned Hanigan, Michael Hooper (c), Sean McMahon.

Replacements: Stephen Moore, Tom Robertson, Allan Alaalatoa, Matt Philip, Ben McCalman, Nick Phipps, Karmichael Hunt, Henry Speight.

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SK 1 hour ago
The times are changing, and some Six Nations teams may be left behind

If you are building the same amount of rucks but kicking more is that a bad thing? Kicks are more constestable than ever, fans want to see a contest, is that a bad thing? kicks create broken field situations where counter attacks from be launched from or from which turnover ball can be exploited, attacks are more direct and swift rather than multiphase in nature, is that a bad thing? What is clear now is that a hybrid approach is needed to win matches. You can still build phases but you need to play in the right areas so you have to kick well. You also have to be prepared to play from turnover ball and transition quickly from the kick contest to attack or set your defence quickly if the aerial contest is lost. Rugby seems healthy to me. The rules at ruck time means the team in possession is favoured and its more possible than ever to play a multiphase game. At the same time kicking, set piece, kick chase and receipt seems to be more important than ever. Teams can win in so many ways with so many strategies. If anything rugby resembles footballs 4-4-2 era. Now football is all about 1 striker formations with gegenpress and transition play vs possession heavy teams, fewer shots, less direct play and crossing. Its boring and it plods along with moves starting from deep, passing goalkeepers and centre backs and less wing play. If we keep tinkering with the laws rugby will become a game with more defined styles and less variety, less ways to win effectively and less varied body types and skill sets.

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