Deans to finalise squad to tour South Africa on Thursday
August 12, 2008 - 10:45am
Story by: ARU
Qantas Wallabies Head Coach Robbie Deans will finalise his 28-man squad to travel to South Africa for the two Tri Nations Tests against the world champion Springboks on Thursday.
The Men of Gold play South Africa in Durban on Saturday August 23rd and in Johannesburg the following Saturday.
A 30-man squad will assemble in Sydney for a two-day training camp before heading to South Africa on Friday morning. Based on injury assessments duiring the camp Deans will then finalise to 28 to travel to the Republic.
The two injury concerns are flanker Rocky Elsom and fullback Adam Ashley-Cooper.
Rocky missed the Test against the All Blacks in Auckland just over a week ago, with a ligament strain in his left foot while Adam, who scored the Wallabies lone-try in the 39 - 10 loss, had surgery last Tuesday on the hand he broke in the Test.
At the time it seemed highly unlikely that Ashley-Cooper would be fit to play in South Africa but the Brumbies hard running fullback is desperate to get on the plane with the rest of his teammates.
Western Force fullback/winger Drew Mitchell could be used at fullback should Ashley-Cooper not be fit for the first South African Test, after the other obvious option, Cameron Shepherd, is recovering from a broken leg, sustained against France in Brisbane.
Both Elsom and Ashley-Cooper are adamant they will be fit for at least the second Test to be played at newly re-named Coca-Cola Park but the final decision on whether the duo will tour lies with Deans.
Meanwhile the Boks, who tuned up for the final leg of the Tri-Nations with a 63-9 (9 tries to nil) hammering of World Cup semi-finalists Argentina on Saturday, play New Zealand in Cape Town on Saturday with the Tri Nations title still wide open.
The All Blacks top the table on 10 points, however New Zealand have played one more game than both the Wallabies (second on nine points) and South Africa (five points).
