Australia have all but restored the lineup they started the Rugby World Cup with for their Quarter final against South Africa.
Coach Robbie Deans has named a team changed in only one place from the one that beat Italy 32-6 in the Wallabies’ first Pool C match almost four weeks ago.
Center Anthony Fainga’a is the only player who started against Italy not included in Deans’ starting XV. He will make his injury return from the bench.
Fullback Kurtley Beale, winger Ioane and inside center Pat McCabe all return from injuries to reclaim their starting places.
The Australian lineup has been overhauled since the 68-22 win over Russia at Nelson in its last pool match. Beale replaces injured winger Drew Mitchell, James O’Connor switches to the right wing, McCabe replaces Berrick Barnes while Ioane resumes in place of backrower-cum-winger Radike Samo who regains his No. 8 jersey.
Deans welcomed the return of Ioane, who missed three pool matches with a broken thumb. The Queensland Reds winger performs vital roles for the Wallabies in attack and defense, particularly plugging the flyhalf channel to shield No. 10 Quade Cooper in defense.
“It’s great for Digby and obviously it’s good for us, particularly when you look at the circumstances of Drew (Mitchell) going home,” Deans said. “He’s pretty much a trigger within the group. He’s a bloke that makes things happen.”
Deans has selected McCabe to start in midfield to provide early physicality while it was intended to have Barnes come off the bench to use his ball skills later in the match.
“That’s what we’ll get by playing them in this order. We believe that will work for us,” Deans said.
“Berrick’s been ill this week, but he’s up and about today. He’ll probably come for a kick tonight, so he should be good to go by the weekend.”
Samo returns to the back of the scrum is one of five changes to the forward pack that took the field against Russia. Flanker Rocky Elsom, lock Dan Vickerman, tighthead prop Ben Alexander and loosehead prop Sekope Kepu are all reinstated.
No. 8 Ben McCalman, lock Nathan Sharpe, prop James Slipper and hooker Tatafu Polota Nau all drop to the bench while loose forward Scott Higginbotham has been omitted. McCalman will cover all three loose forward positions.
The South Africans expected Nathan Sharpe to be named ahead of Vickerman at lock in an effort to match Springboks veteran Victor Matfield at lineouts.
“Two good men,” Deans said of Vickerman and Sharpe. “Two blokes who have been through this circumstance before. They understand the reality of quarterfinal rugby and they understand the importance of composure and accuracy. We’ll get that from both of them.”
“We’ve gone with the players and the combinations which have served us best through the year to date.
“Obviously, injury and managing individual player workloads has been a factor in selection through the tournament so far. But fortunately a lot of the injury problems that we’ve had are now behind us. The players that are coming back into the team after breaks are good to go.”
One of those is McCabe, who has overcome a shoulder injury suffered after coming off the bench in Australia’s 67-5 win over the United States two weeks ago. The 23-year-old McCabe had started at inside center in seven straight tests before his injury.
The Australian backline for Sunday’s game is the same as the one which played in Australia’s 14-9 Tri-Nations win over South Africa in Durban two months ago en-route to the country’s first Tri-Nations title in a decade. The return of Samo and Vickerman cause the only changes to the forward pack which started that match.
Deans said the Tri-Nations would be “irrelevant” in the quarterfinal.
“All that matters is Sunday,” he said. “The winner goes on, the loser goes home. Taking comfort from previous games is the quickest path way to the airport.
“The decisions in the game will be key – making good decisions to ensure we’re playing the game where we want to play it and in a way we want to play it.
“That’s something the Springboks are very clear on. That’s one of their assets that they bring a real clarity to their game and try to maximize the pressure on their opponent as a result of that.”
Australia
15 Kurtley Beale, 14 James O’Connor, 13 Adam Ashley-Cooper, 12 Pat McCabe, 11 Digby Ioane, 10 Quade Cooper, 9 Will Genia, 8 Radike Semo, 7 David Pocock, 6 Rocky Elsom, 5 James Horwill (C), 4 Dan Vickerman, 3 Ben Alexander, 2 Stephen Moore, 1 Sekope Kepu.
Replacements: 16 Tatafu Polota Nau, 17 James Slipper, 18 Nathan Sharpe, 19 Ben McCalman, 20 Luke Burgess, 21 Berrick Barnes, 22 Anthony Fainga’a.