The Qantas Wallabies have announced a 30-man squad for the next stage of their 2014 Castrol EDGE Rugby Championship campaign against South Africa in Perth.
Joining the Qantas Wallabies squad for the first time in 2014 will be 22-year-old Western Force centre Kyle Godwin.
NSW Waratahs hooker Tatafu Polota-Nau also re-joins the group, although will not be considered for selection in Australia’s clash against South Africa on Saturday 6 September at Patersons Stadium as he continues to rehabilitate an injured knee.
His availability will be re-assessed for the following week’s clash against Argentina on the Gold Coast.
The Qantas Wallabies endured two further injuries in their recent clash against the All Blacks in Auckland and will be without hooker Nathan Charles and winger Pat McCabe.
A breakthrough campaign from Charles has come to a premature end with the Western Force hooker to miss the remainder of the 2014 Test season with a pectoral tear.
Further details on McCabe’s injury will be available on Thursday.
Qantas Wallabies coach Ewen McKenzie congratulated Godwin on his inclusion.
“Kyle is someone who has been on the national radar for some time, but unfortunately hasn’t had much of an opportunity to join the Wallabies environment due to injury,” McKenzie said.
“He now gets his chance to join the squad, and we’ll look forward to learning more about him.”
McKenzie said it would be important for the squad to respond to the disappointment of their loss against New Zealand when they come into camp in Perth on Sunday.
“We don’t hide from the fact that our performance against New Zealand was well below our own expectations, which was especially disappointing considering the momentum we had created since last year’s Spring Tour,” he said.
“We’ll address that and then get on with preparing for what will be a very tough battle against South Africa next Saturday night.”
While the team is in Perth, Western Force hooker Heath Tessman and prop Tetera Faulkner will be invited to train with the Qantas Wallabies squad.
Tickets for the match against the South Africa at Patersons Stadium in Perth are available via Ticketmaster.
Tickets for the match against the Argentina at Cbus Super Stadium on the Gold Coast are available via Ticketek.
Fans are invited to attend an open training session in Perth on Monday 1 September from 2:30pm at UWA Sports Ground (McGillivray Road, Mount Claremont). There are plenty of giveaways available at the sessions while fans can also have their photo taken with the historic Mandela Plate. Following training, fans have the chance to receive autographs and photos with their favourite players.
The Qantas Wallabies squad for the next stage of the 2014 Castrol EDGE Rugby Championship is:
Player
State
Age
Test Caps
PROP
Ben Alexander
ACT Brumbies
29
64
Pek Cowan
Western Force
28
8
Sekope Kepu
NSW Waratahs
28
43
James Slipper
Queensland Reds
25
54
HOOKER
Saia Fainga’a
Queensland Reds
27
29
James Hanson
Queensland Reds
25
2
Tatafu Polota-Nau
NSW Waratahs
29
49
LOCK
Sam Carter
ACT Brumbies
24
3
James Horwill
Queensland Reds
29
51
Rob Simmons
Queensland Reds
25
42
Will Skelton
NSW Waratahs
22
3
BACKROW
Scott Fardy
ACT Brumbies
30
15
Scott Higginbotham
Melbourne Rebels
27
26
Matt Hodgson
Western Force
33
6
Michael Hooper (c)
NSW Waratahs
22
33
Ben McCalman
Western Force
26
32
Wycliff Palu
NSW Waratahs
31
53
SCRUMHALF
Luke Burgess
Melbourne Rebels
31
37
Nick Phipps
NSW Waratahs
25
19
Nic White
ACT Brumbies
24
15
FLYHALF
Kurtley Beale
NSW Waratahs
25
44
Bernard Foley
NSW Waratahs
24
9
CENTRE
Kyle Godwin
Western Force
22
Uncapped
Tevita Kuridrani
ACT Brumbies
23
12
Christian Leali'ifano
ACT Brumbies
26
13
Matt Toomua
ACT Brumbies
24
15
BACK-THREE
Adam Ashley-Cooper
NSW Waratahs
30
95
Peter Betham
NSW Waratahs
25
1
Israel Folau
NSW Waratahs
25
20
Rob Horne
NSW Waratahs
25
18
The remaining Qantas Wallabies schedule for the 2014 Castrol EDGE Rugby Championship is:
Date
Opponent
Venue
Saturday 6 September
South Africa
Patersons Stadium, Perth
Saturday 13 September
Argentina
Cbus Stadium, Gold Coast
Saturday 27 September (Sun 28 Sept. AEST)
South Africa
Newlands Stadium, Cape Town
Saturday 4 October
(Sun 5 Oct. AEST)
Argentina
Estadio Malvinas Argentinas, Mendoza
