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Wallabies set to unleash Wilson on English
By AAP
Exciting young backrower Harry Wilson has been parachuted straight into the Wallabies' starting line-up for the deciding third Test against old foe England on Saturday.
While the Australian line-up for the SCG Test will be unveiled on Thursday the Queensland young gun is a confirmed starter after missing match-day selection in the previous two Tests, which stand at one win apiece.
Wallabies coach Dave Rennie is yet to reveal how he will use the athletic 22-year-old, who won the Stan Pilecki Medal as Queensland's best player this Super Rugby Pacific season.
As well as scoring five tries, Wilson topped the competition for carries and finished in the top-10 for metres carried, offloads and tackles.
His high energy play is exactly what the Wallabies need to wrest back momentum after England took out game two in Brisbane 25-17 last weekend.
Making his Test debut in 2020, Wilson has played 10 matches but was left off the Wallabies ' Spring tour last year with Rennie wanting him to improve his footwork and his Reds statistics indicate he bought into that feedback.
Rennie has used the combination of Rob Valetini at No.8 with Rob Leota at No.6 and skipper Michael Hooper at openside flanker, with the versatile Pete Samu coming off the bench as his backrow in the opening two Tests.
But with the Wallabies dominated in the physical battle in Brisbane and his lock stocks hit hard by injury and suspension he may look to move Leota into the second-row to partner Matt Philip, and start Wilson at No.6.
Or he could switch Valentini to blindside and have Wilson anchoring the scrum at No.8.
The Wallabies will also field a third starting fullback in three Tests after Tom Banks broke his arm in opening win in Perth and Jordan Petaia suffered a head-knock in the Brisbane loss.
Boasting a handy big boot, Reece Hodge, who joined the top squad from Australia A, is the most likely choice.
NRL convert Suliasi Vunivalu could also earn his first Wallabies cap from the bench with the hard-hitting winger one of four players, including Wilson, Lachlan Lonergan and Tate McDermott, who have yet to be used from the squad.
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Latest Comments
I don’t really care what the Ireland team did or didn’t say about the final and I’m an ABs supporter. However, what does AG know about it? He wasn’t there and he’s just making bold assumptions based on his imagination of how things rolled. Etzebeth was there on the field. It may have been misinterpreted, or not. You can have a fecking sense of many people are around you without asking them to raise their hands and be counted. You can call Etzebeth arrogant if you like but I’d say it’s less arrogant than someone who wasn’t there and had nothing to do with the situation declaring it’s BS.
Go to commentsEngland had to bed in their new defensive system while challenging for the 6N. The schedule allowed them to try and focus on defense for first 3 matches and then target Ireland (the pre tournament target match). A win in France would be a bonus.
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