Australia coach Robbie Deans on Tuesday dropped veteran flanker George Smith and three others from the Wallabies starting line-up for the fourth and final Bledisloe Cup clash against the All Blacks.
Teenage fullback James O’Connor will also start on the bench for the Test at Tokyo’s National Stadium on Saturday, a dead rubber with New Zealand having lost the year’s three previous trans-Tasman games.
Smith, who has 105 Test caps, has seen his position under threat since the Wallabies’ poor Tri-Nations series, in which they won only one Test out of six.
The 29-year-old has been seen training with second-stringers before coming here on the way to the Wallabies’ first grand slam tour of Britain and Ireland in 25 years.
Under new skipper Rocky Elsom, the starting line-up includes four new faces from last month’s Tri-Nations clash with New Zealand — wingers Dibgy Ioane and Peter Hynes, centre Ryan Cross and number eight Wycliff Palu.
Adam Ashley Cooper has reverted from centre to fullback in the place of James O’Connor.
”Returning Adam to fullback helps with the balance of the side. It is not a slight on the performance of James O’Connor at all,” Deans said.
”He’s already had a big year, which it must be remembered has been his first at this level,” the coach said of the 19-year-old fullback.
”We’re wary of over exposing James and will be looking to manage his involvements through this tour.”
Ashley-Cooper’s relocation and the absence of former captain Stirling Mortlock due to a torn calf have opened the way for Cross to return at centre, where he played during the test win over the All Blacks in Sydney last year.
”Ryan has worked hard on the training paddock to gain this opportunity,” said Deans.
”This is the first Bledisloe Cup Test to have been played in Japan and our final opportunity against the All Blacks for the year, so it’s vital for us to produce a complete performance,” said Elsom.
He added it is important for the confidence of his touring group that it maximised its opportunities this weekend.
”That’s not something we have done of late and we know more than anyone that it is critical,” said Elsom.
Dean said: ”The significance of the occasion, with it being the first Bledisloe Cup game to be played in front of a Japanese audience, demands a spectacle, and I’m sure that you will see that.”
”These are two proud nations, and the players are proud to be putting on their national jumpers. I’m sure that will reflect in their performance,” he added. — AFP
