Rennie names experienced halves as Wallabies search for back-to-back wins
Nic White and Taniela Tupou will return to the starting side when Michael Hooper becomes Australia’s most-capped Wallabies captain in Saturday night’s Rugby Championship return bout against South Africa.
White replaces Tate McDermott at halfback, with Tupou finally earning his first start of the tournament after prop Allan Alaalatoa left Wallabies camp for the birth of his first child.
Veteran James Slipper also returns to the front row, with Angus Bell to warm the bench after starting in last weekend’s thrilling 28-26 win over the Springboks.
Hooper will surpass George Gregan for the most Tests as Wallabies captain when he leads the side out for the 60th time.
The 29-year-old first captained Australia as a 22-year-old in 2014, making Hooper the third youngest Wallabies leader of all time.
The world champion Springboks will be seething after Quade Cooper’s long-range penalty after the siren sunk them on Sunday.
They’ll meet again inside a week, this time at Brisbane’s Suncorp Stadium where the Wallabies have won their past eight Tests.
Nursing a shin injury, McDermott remained off after the break on Sunday and White made the most of his extra time on the park.
He kicked a 50-22 early in the second half and then forced the decisive penalty after Australia had turned over a scrum just seconds before fulltime.
McDermott has played nine Tests and started in his past five, earning the respect of his rivals for his probing attack, desperate defence and improved kicking.
But 40-Test veteran White’s game management will be equally crucial against a Springboks side intent on turning the tables after Australia beat them at their own game on the Gold Coast.
“They’re big and they’ll be angry and no doubt it’s going to hurt this weekend,” former Wallabies fullback Chris Latham said of South Africa.
“I don’t think they’ll change much from their game plan, I just think their execution will be far better.”
Cooper’s exploits in his Test return make him a hard man to replace in the No.10 ,despite James O’Connor being fit and available after missing the previous seven Tests this year.
In an effort to play both, Latham lobbed up the left-field option of moving O’Connor to fullback, where he featured in his previous life for the Wallabies more than a decade ago.
But coach Dave Rennie on Thursday resisted Latham’s push, retaining Tom Banks in the No.15 jumper for his eighth start of 2021.
AUSTRALIA:
15. Tom Banks
14. Andrew Kellaway
13. Len Ikitau
12. Samu Kerevi
11. Marika Koroibete
10. Quade Cooper
9. Nic White
8. Rob Valetini
7. Michael Hooper (capt)
6. Lachlan Swinton
5. Matt Philip
4. Izack Rodda
3. Taniela Tupou
2. Folau Fainga’a
1. James Slipper.
Reserves: 16. Feleti Kaitu’u, 17. Angus Bell, 18. Tom Robertson, 19. Darcy Swain, 20. Pete Samu, 21. Tate McDermott, 22. Reece Hodge, 23. Jordan Petaia.
Comments on RugbyPass
Thanks BeeMc! Looks like many teams need extra time to settle from the quadrennial northern migration. I think generally the quality of the Rugby has held up. Fiji has been fantastic and fun to watch
13 Go to commentsLets compare apples with apples. Lyon sent weak team the week before, but nobody raised an eyebrow. Give the South African teams a few years to build their depth, then you will be moaning that the teams are too strong.
41 Go to commentsDid footballs agents also perform the scout role at some time? I’m surprised more high profile players haven’t taken up the occupation, great way to remain in the game and use all that experience without really requiring a lot of specific expertise?
1 Go to commentsSuper rugby is struggling but that has little to do with sabbaticals. 1. Too many teams from Aust and NZ - should be 3 and 4 respectively, add in 2 from Japan, 1 possibly 2 from Argentina. 2. Inconsistent and poor refereeing, admittedly not restricted to Super rugby. Only one team was reffed at the breakdown in Reds v H’Landers match. Scrum penalty awarded in Canes v Drua when No 8 had the ball in the open with little defence nearby - ideal opportunity to play advantage. Coming back to Reds match - same scrum situation but ref played advantage - Landers made 10 yards and were penalised at the breakdown when the ref should have returned to scrum penalty. 3. Marketing is weak and losing ground to AFL and NRL. Playing 2 days compared with 4. 4. Scheduling is unattractive to family attendance. Have any franchises heard of Sundays 2pm?
11 Go to commentsAbsolutely..all they need is a chance in yhe playoffs and I bet all the other teams will be nervous…THEY KNOW HOW TO WIN IM THE PLAYOFFS..
2 Go to commentsI really hope he comes back and helps out with some coaching.
1 Go to commentsI think we are all just hoping that the Olympic 7s doesn’t suffer the same sad fate as the last RWC with the officials ruining the spectacle.
1 Go to commentsPersonally, I’ve lost the will to even be bothered about the RFU, the structure, the participants. It’s all a sham. I now simply enjoy getting a group of friends together to go and watch a few games a year in different locations (including Europe, the championship, etc). I feel extremely sorry for the real fans of these clubs who are constantly ignored by the RFU and other administrators. I feel especially sorry for the fans of clubs in the Championship who have had considerable central funding stripped away and are then expected to just take whatever the RFU put to them. Its all a sham, especially if the failed clubs are allowed to return.
9 Go to commentsI’m guessing Carl Hayman would have preferred to have stayed in NZ with benefit of hindsight. Up north there is the expectation to play twice as many games with far less ‘player management’ protocols that Paul is now criticising. Less playing through concussions means longer, healthier, careers. Carter used as the eg here by Paul, his sabbatical allowed him to play until age 37. OK its not an exact science but there is far more expectations on players who sign for Top 14 or Engl Prem clubs to get value for the huge salaries. NZR get alot wrong but keeping their best players in NZ rugby is not one of them. SA clubs are virtually devoid of their top players now, no thanks. They cant threaten the big teams in the Champions Cup, the squads have little depth. Cant see Canes/Chiefs struggling. Super has been great this year, fantastic high skill matches. Drua a fantastic addition and Jaguares will add another quality team eventually. Aus teams performing strongly and no doubt will benefit with the incentive of a Lions tour and a home RWC. Let Jordie enjoy his time with Leinster, it will allow the opportunity for another player to emerge at Canes in his absence.
11 Go to commentsLove that man, his way to despise angry little men is so funny ! 😂
4 Go to comments“South African franchises would be powerhouses if we had all our overseas based players back in situ. We would have the same unbeatable aura the Toulouses, Leinsters or Saracens of this world have had over the last decade or so.” Proof that Jake white does not understand the economics of the game in SA. Players earning abroad are not going to simply come back and represent the bulls. But they might if they have a springbok contract.
22 Go to commentsA lot of fans just joined in for the fun of it! We all admire O'Gara and what he has done for La Rochelle
4 Go to commentsThe RFU will find a way to mess this up as usual. My bet is there will be no promotion into the the Premiership, only relegation into National League One. Hopefully they won’t parachute failed clubs into the league at the expense of clubs who have battled for promotion.
9 Go to commentsWell that’s the contracts for RG and Jordie bought and paid for. Now, what are the chances we can persuade Antoine to hop over with all the extra dosh we’ll have from living at the Aviva & Croke next season…??? 🤑🤑🤑
35 Go to commentsWow, that’s incredible. Great for rugby.
35 Go to commentsYou probably read that parling is going to coach the wallaby lineout but if not before now you have.
14 Go to commentsIf someone like Leo Cullen was in O’Gara’s place I don’t hear Boo-ing. It’s not just that La Rochelle has hurt Leinster and O’Gara is their Irish boss. It’s the needle that he brings and the pantomime activity before the game around pretending that Munster were supporting LaRochelle just because O’Gara is from Cork. That’s dividing Irish provinces just to get an advantage for his French Team. He can F*ck right off with that. BOOOOO! (but not while someone is lying injured)
4 Go to commentsDid the highlanders party too hard before the game? They were the pits.
1 Go to commentsWhat a player! Not long until he’s in the England side, surely?
5 Go to commentsHe seems to have the same aura as Marcus Smith - by which I mean he’s consistently judged as if he’s several years younger than he actually is. Mngomezulu has played 24 times for the Stormers. When Pollard was his age he had played 24 times for South Africa! He has more time to develop, but he has also had time to do some developing already, and he hasn’t demonstrated nearly as much talent in that time as one would expect. If he is a generational talent, then it must be a pretty poor generation.
6 Go to comments