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NAMED: Cheika gives rookie a chance in Wallaby side to face the All Blacks
By RugbyPass
Michael Cheika has made five changes to his Wallaby side that will make on the All Blacks in Sydney on Saturday night.
Included in the side is uncapped winger Curtis Rona, who is in for the injured Dane Haylett-Petty. Henry Speight as also been recalled in place of Seta Naivalu, who has also failed to recover from injury.
Rona's elevation is tinged with irony, given that the team he impressed so much with this year no longer exits. The Western Force have been axed from Super Rugby, meaning that Rona is officially unaligned to anyone. There had been talk that he may return to the NRL, where he played for the North Queensland Cowboys and Canterbury Bankstown Bulldogs. However, this call up will most likely see him stay committed to the 15-man code.
The Wallaby tight five will have a typically tough time against their All Black counterparts, given that Stephen Moore has almost twice as many caps as the rest of them put together.
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The comments tell us why we can't select All Blacks who play in Australia. Standards simply aren't as high.
Go to commentsNice! Should be an even more exciting season that last year. Who have Verblitz got to replace Beauden Barrett? They should be a lot better this year. Tiaan Falcon might be able to run the ship.
Is Ben Herring still their coach? I was hoping he would return to NZ with Fosters addition to the team but a recent article seemed to suggest he was still just an assistant.
Appreciate the player insights for the up and commers. Been a bit dreary watching Champions Cup rugby so can't wait for it to start.
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