Quade Cooper and Scott Higginbotham have both missed out on selection for Wallabies coach Michael Cheika’s 38-man training squad for the Rugby Championship. He has named eleven new faces in the lead up to the Bledisloe Cup clash in Sydney on August 19.
The training camp won’t include any Brumbies players until their Super Rugby campaign is over.
The selected players will meet at their State bases this coming Thursday for the first mini-training camp before the entire extended squad convenes in Newcastle on Sunday July 23.
Eleven uncapped players are in the extended train-on group with seven of them set for their first Wallabies squad experience (Fa’agase, Korczyk, Rodda, Uelese, Magnay, Meakes and Rona).
Western Force props Pek Cowan and Tetera Faulkner have been rewarded for their fine Super Rugby form, as they return to the national training group for the first time since their last Tests back in 2014.
It’s also the first squad selection for Kurtley Beale since the 2015 Rugby World Cup while Queensland pair Taniela Tupou and Izaia Perese will get another chance to impress following their selection as Development Players on the 2016 Spring Tour.
The week-long strength and conditioning camp in Newcastle will form the first part of the lead-in to the opening Bledisloe Cup clash with a finalised squad to be named prior to a camp in Cessnock on Sunday August 6.
Qantas Wallabies coach Michael Cheika said: “We have a lot of work to get done between now and August 19 when we play New Zealand in Sydney. That work started in June, we tried to maintain some of that throughout the last rounds of Super Rugby and now we start to take it up a level.
“We want all of these guys to be very clear on what the trademarks are of the Wallabies game and then be equipped and ready to deliver it when asked to enter the arena for Australia, whether it’s for five minutes or the whole 80 minutes of every Test this season.
“That is what our objective will be over the next couple of weeks and I can’t wait to get stuck into it,” Cheika said.
Forwards
Jermaine Ainsley*, Western Force
Adam Coleman, 12 Tests, Western Force
Pek Cowan, 10 Tests, Western Force
Jack Dempsey, 1 Test, NSW Waratahs
Kane Douglas, 31 Tests, Queensland Reds
Sef Fa’agase*, Queensland Reds
Tetera Faulkner, 2 Tests, Western Force
Ned Hanigan, 3 Tests, NSW Waratahs
Richard Hardwick, 2 Tests, Western Force
Michael Hooper, 68 Tests, NSW Waratahs
Sekope Kepu, 80 Tests, NSW Waratahs
Adam Korczyk*, Queensland Reds
Tolu Latu, 4 Tests, NSW Waratahs
Sean McMahon, 15 Tests, Melbourne Rebels
Stephen Moore (c), 120 Tests, Queensland Reds
Tatafu Polota-Nau, 71 Tests, Western Force
Tom Robertson, 9 Tests, NSW Waratahs
Izack Rodda*, Queensland Reds
Rob Simmons, 71 Tests, Queensland Reds
Lopeti Timani, 7 Tests, Melbourne Rebels
Taniela Tupou*, Queensland Reds
Jordan Uelese*, Melbourne Rebels
Backs
Kurtley Beale, 60 Tests, NSW Waratahs
Israel Folau, 55 Tests, NSW Waratahs
Bernard Foley, 45 Tests, NSW Waratahs
Will Genia, 78 Tests
Dane Haylett-Petty, 17 Tests, Western Force
Reece Hodge, 13 Tests, Melbourne Rebels
Karmichael Hunt, 3 Tests, Queensland Reds
Samu Kerevi, 8 Tests, Queensland Reds
Marika Koroibete*, Melbourne Rebels
Campbell Magnay*, Queensland Reds
Billy Meakes*, Western Force
Eto Nabuli, 1 Test, Queensland Reds
Sefa Naivalu, 7 Tests, Melbourne Rebels
Izaia Perese*, Queensland Reds
Nick Phipps, 52 Tests, NSW Waratahs
Curtis Rona*, Western Force
*denotes uncapped player
Sign In