JULIAN LINDEN, London | Tuesday 8.30pm.
NUMBER eight Toutai Kefu has been recalled by Australia for Saturday’s World Cup semifinal against defending champions South Africa at Twickenham after serving a two-match suspension for punching.
The Tongan-born forward returns to the side at the expense of former Springbok captain Tiaan Strauss who played in Saturday’s 24-9 quarter-final win over Wales.
Kefu missed that game as well as Australia’s final pool E match against the United States after he was suspended for punching Irish flanker Trevor Brennan.
“Tiaan Strauss did a fine job against Wales,” Australian coach Rod Macqueen said on Tuesday. “But Toutai Kefu has been our number one choice at number eight during the year.”
Macqueen said he would decide on Wednesday whether to keep Strauss in the 22-man squad or choose Mark Connors, who came on as a replacement against Wales.
Kefu has been one of Australia’s best players during the World Cup, scoring a hat-trick of tries in the Wallabies’ opening game against Romania. He is considered a vital cog because of his ability to break the defensive line.
His recall was the only change to the side that beat Wales. Australian captain John Eales said he was happy enough with the Wallabies’ progress but they needed to improve even further if they wanted to beat the Springboks.
“We’re pretty confident in our ability but we respect them,” he said. “I think we’ve improved with each game but if we don’t play better than we did last weekend then we’re going to be out of the World Cup.”
There’s been little between the two sides since South Africa were readmitted to world rugby in 1992. But the Springboks have had a slight edge over the Australians in the past two seasons, winning three of their last four clashes, including a 10-9 victory in their most recent meeting in Cape Town in August.
“That was easily our worst performance of the year,” Macqueen said. “The players hate me bringing it up but I like to remind them about all the time to warn them about what can happen if you don’t play to your best.
“They’ve probably got the ascendency on us over the past few years but we believe that if we play to our potential then we’ll be in the final.
“One of the things about this team is that they’re a confidence team and their confidence is up at the moment.”
The good news for Australia is that they are finally injury free, although winger Ben Tune missed Tuesday’s training session because of a corked knee he suffered against Wales. He will definitely play on Saturday.
Prop Glenn Panoho was finally called into the squad to replace injured hooker Phil Kearns who had to fly home after hurting his foot against the Irish.
Panoho has been with the Wallabies for a week but was only officially allowed to join the squad on Tuesday.
Australia – Matthew Burke; Ben Tune, Tim Horan, Daniel Herbert, Joe Roff; Stephen Larkham, George Gregan; Taitai Kefu, David Wilson, Matthew Cockbain, John Eales, David Giffin, Andrew Blades, Michael Foley, Richard Harry.