Wallaby coach Robbie Deans has dropped Matt Giteau from the starting line up to face Italy after he was shown a yellow card in last weekend’s loss to England.

Outside centre Adam Ashley-Cooper will make his 50th Test appearance when he takes to Florence’s Stadio Artemio Franchi for the Wallabies’ Test match against Italy on Saturday.

Ashley-Cooper will become the 35th Australian player to reach 50 Tests and the fifth to do so in 2010.

The Brumbies utility back follows in the footsteps of teammates Rocky Elsom (v Fiji in Canberra), Mark Chisholm (v England in Sydney), and Stephen Moore and Drew Mitchell (v South Africa in Bloemfontein) who have also registered their half centuries this year.

Ashley-Cooper will start in a Wallabies side featuring five changes to their starting XV following last weekend’s 35-18 loss to England at Twickenham.

The Australian backline has received the bulk of the modifications, featuring three of the side’s changes.

After starting from the bench in the Wallabies’ past three Tests, Lachie Turner, who scored his maiden Test try against the Azzurri in the corresponding match two years ago, has been promoted to the run-on side following winger James O’Connor’s return to Australia on compassionate grounds.

Saturday will be the 13th Test of Turner’s career but just his second this year after winning the team’s internal Man-of-the-Match award when deputising for an injured Drew Mitchell in his only other outing against New Zealand in Sydney.

O’Connor will re-join the side in Paris on Sunday.

Berrick Barnes, who captained the Wallabies in both midweek tour matches against Leicester and Munster, will start a Test for the first time since the Wallabies’ 49-28 loss to the All Blacks in Melbourne in July.

The Australian inside centre plays his ninth Test of the year but just his third start, and the third of his career partnering flyhalf Quade Cooper.

The other two occurred last year against Italy in Melbourne (when Barnes started at flyhalf and Cooper at inside centre) and earlier this year in Perth against England after Matt Giteau was forced out at the side’s Captain’s Run with Barnes fulfilling the role in the Wallabies’ ‘12′ jersey.

Luke Burgess has been selected at scrumhalf replacing Will Genia, who will take up his place on the reserves list after recovering from rib damage sustained against England last weekend.

Burgess gets his first start since the side’s win over Ireland in Brisbane in June where he scored his maiden Test try.

Changes to the Wallabies’ forward pack will see the Queensland Reds pairing of loosehead prop James Slipper and lock Rob Simmons make their run-on debuts for the Australian side.

Slipper, a former Australian Under 20 Player of the Year, receives his call-up to the starting front row after 12 caps off the bench, in what will be just the second starting appearance of his professional carerer – the first being for the Reds in their final Super 14 match of the season against the Highlanders.

Slipper has featured in each of the Wallabies’ past 12 Tests since having made his debut against England in Perth, with captain Rocky Elsom, David Pocock and Dean Mumm the only other forwards who have appeared consecutively in each of those games.

Simmons, who made his Test debut in the Wallabies’ win over South Africa in Brisbane this year, earns a start in his fifth Test and will pack down alongside Nathan Sharpe.

Elsom, who will continue his back row partnership with Pocock and Ben McCalman for a sixth consecutive Test, will lead the Wallabies for the 19th time.

This equals Andrew Slack as the fifth most capped Australian leader behind George Gregan, John Eales, Nick Farr-Jones and Stirling Mortlock.

Deans says Ashley-Cooper’s milestone is a tremendous accomplishment.

“It’s outstanding,” he said. “To get one Test is a great but to get to 50 is an outstanding achievement in anyone’s book.

“The great thing about Adam is that he’s played each of those as if they were his first.”

Deans says the changes represent the current competition for places within the Wallabies squad.

“They’ve all earned their right to be a part of this side,” he said.

“Off the back of his efforts off the bench, James (Slipper) has earned his opportunity to start and Rob gets his chance to start having got some more Rugby under his belt (against Leicester and Munster) and he’ll benefit from the experience he received off the bench through the Bundaberg Red Tri-Nations.

“Berrick has really worked hard at his game and deserves his chance to start.

He has also made an impact off the bench for us and he gets his chance to start from the beginning, as does Luke (Burgess).

Will Genia is coming off a knock from last week and so he (Burgess) gets his chance to do some yards in place of him.

“Lachie obviously comes in due to James O’Connor’s absence, but we expect him to thrive as he has done with each opportunity he’s been provided with in the past.”

The Wallabies bench is highlighted by the return of hooker Tatafu Polota-Nau, who returns to the Wallabies’ Test side for the first since undergoing ankle surgery in June and can potentially feature in his first Test since defeating Wales in Cardiff at the end of last year.

Polota-Nau played in 13 of our 14 Tests last year but will be featuring in his first for 2010.

Wallabies

15 Kurtley Beale, 14 Lachie Turner, 13 Adam Ashley-Cooper, 12 Berrick Barnes, 11 Drew Mitchell, 10 Quade Cooper, 9 Luke Burgess, 8 Ben McCalman, 7 David Pocock, 6 Rocky Elsom (c), 5 Nathan Sharpe, 4 Rob Simmons, 3 Ben Alexander, 2 Stephen Moore, 1 James Slipper

Replacements: 16 Tatafu Polota-Nau, 17 Benn Robinson, 18 Mark Chisholm, 19 Matt Hodgson, 20 Will Genia, 21 Matt Giteau, 22 Pat McCabe.