AUSTRALIA HAVE rested the halfback pair of Quade Cooper and Will Genia for their first Test of the year against Samoa on Sunday, but former Leinster flanker Rocky Elsom returns from injury to captain the side.
Cooper and Genia, an integral part of the Queensland Reds team which won the Super Rugby title last weekend, will be replaced by the experienced Matt Giteau at outhalf and Nick Phipps, who will make his first Test start at scrumhalf.
Digby Ioane, who will play on the left wing with James O’Connor on the right, is the only Reds player in the starting Wallabies line-up, with four on the bench for the Tri-Nations warm-up.
“It’s not only emotional, it’s also physical, they’ve gone three weeks longer than anyone else and three weeks of high-intensity rugby,” said coach Robbie Deans.
“Will and Quade have played every game and they’re at the heart of the decision-making so there’s a lot of demands on them. They’re due for a bit of respite before they re-engage.”
In addition to flanker Elsom playing only his second match of the year, Mark Gerrard at fullback and lock Dan Vickerman on the replacements bench return after several years out of Test action.
AUSTRALIA:M Gerrard; J O'Connor, A Ashley-Cooper, P McCabe, D Ioane; M Giteau, N Phipps; S Kepu, S Moore, B Alexander, S Timani, N Sharpe, R Elsom, M Hodgson, B McCalman. Replacements: J Hanson, D Vickerman, S Higginbotham, B Robinson, W Genia, K Beale (replacement prop tba).
