Mitchell included in Wallabies team for second Test

Mitchell, who last played for Australia against Russia at last year’s Rugby World Cup and was an unused replacement last weekend, will start on the right wing with fellow HSBC Waratah Adam Ashley-Cooper moving to fullback in place of Kurtley Beale.

The inclusion of Quade Cooper at flyhalf means Berrick Barnes shifts to inside centre, forming a NSW centre pairing with Rob Horne. Barnes retains the goal-kicking duties after an impressive run of form which has seen him kick 19 of 23 attempts in Test matches this year, including five from five in the year’s first clash with the All Blacks. 

 

Queensland Reds halfback Will Genia will captain Australia for the second time after the Qantas Wallabies team for the second Test of The Castrol EDGE Rugby Championship against the All Blacks was named today.

 

The elevation of Genia, and the inclusion in the starting XV of promising flanker Michael Hooper, who will play for NSW next season, are both a consequence of the knee cartilage injury which has ruled out the previous Wallabies stand in skipper, David Pocock.  Hooper will oppose All Black skipper Richard McCaw for the first time on Saturday. It will also be the first time at Eden Park for the HSBC Waratahs’ new signing, voted last year’s Australian Under-20 Player of the Year, who will be figuring in his fourth Test after making his debut at Newcastle earlier in June.

 

Injury has also ruled out Sekope Kepu, after the tighthead prop suffered a grade 2 knee ligament tear during training. His absence breaks up the all-NSW front row that has dominated recent Wallabies sides, with Brumbies front-ranker Ben Alexander packing down alongside Benn Robinson and Tatafu Polota-Nau. Behind them, lock Sita Timani and flanker Dave Dennis retain their places in the starting pack. In all, nine HSBC Waratahs are named in the starting side, with Robbie Deans and the selectors opting to hold off finalising the bench due to an injury concern. The make-up of the replacements bench will be finalised once the side arrives in Auckland tonight, with 25 players in the Qantas Wallabies party which leaves Sydney this afternoon.

 

11. Digby Ioane                      (Queensland Reds)

10. Quade Cooper                (Queensland Reds)

9. Will Genia                            (Queensland Reds, captain)

8. Scott Higginbotham         (Queensland Reds)

7. Michael Hooper                (Brumbies)

5. Nathan Sharpe                  (Western Force)

3. Ben Alexander                    (Brumbies)

Run on Reserves: To be advised

Australia v New Zealand @ Eden Park – Historical Notes

• This tally includes the 24 matches played between 1920 and 1928 when NSW represented Australia. The ARU accorded these matches Test status but the NZRU does not include them in its records.
• Of the 168 games played between the two nations, New Zealand has won 116 and Australia 47, with five draws – the most recent of which occurred in Brisbane 24 years ago, when the two teams finished at 19-19 in the second match of the 1988 series. There have been 59 matches between the teams since the last drawn game.
• The Wallabies haven’t prevailed against New Zealand at Eden Park since 1986, when an Andrew Slack-led side won 22-9 to claim the Bledisloe Cup after a 2-1 series win. To put this time frame in perspective: the currently injured Qantas Wallabies skipper James Horwill was just a year old when Australia won that Test in Auckland. The date was September 6, 1986. Horwill was born 15 months earlier on May 25, 1985, while none of David Pocock, Kurtley Beale, Quade Cooper or Saturday night’s Wallaby leader, Will Genia, had been born
• The last example of an Australian win against the All Blacks on New Zealand soil was in 2001, when the Wallabies scored 23-15 in Dunedin. The All Blacks have won the 13 games that have been played between the two teams in New Zealand since that match.
• 2001 was also the last instance of Australia winning consecutive Tests against New Zealand.
• The first Test between Australia and New Zealand in Auckland was played in 1925, with the home side winning 36-10.
• There have been 25 Tests between the two sides in the city, with New Zealand winning 21 of those contests and Australia four.
• Australia’s wins were achieved in 1949 (16-9), 1955 (8-3), 1978 (30-16) and 1986 (22-9).
• The Wallabies have played two other Tests at Eden Park – both during last year’s Rugby World Cup – for a 6-15 loss to Ireland and a 21-18 win over Wales. 
• New Zealand has won the last 13 Tests it has played against Australia at Eden Park, and has not been defeated on the ground by any country since France prevailed 23-20 in 1994.
• New Zealand has not lost a Test at Eden Park in 18 years with the All Blacks’ undefeated sequence at the venue being extended by this year’s win against Ireland to 29 matches, 28 of which have been won after the run started with an 18-18 draw with South Africa in 1994.
• Australia (10) have fallen more than any other side during the unbeaten sequence, followed by England, France and South Africa (three defeats each).
• Saturday night represents the 82nd Test to have been played by New Zealand at Eden Park. The All Blacks have won 69 of these, which includes the 1987 and 2011 Rugby World Cup finals against France, while losing 10, with two others drawn.
• The Bledisloe Cup was donated by the then Governor General of New Zealand, Lord Bledisloe, for competition between the two countries in 1931.
• Australia won the trophy for the first time in 1934, beating New Zealand 25-11 in Sydney.
• Australia has not held the Bledisloe Cup since it was relinquished in 2003 during a nil-2 series loss to the then John Mitchell and Robbie Deans-coached All Blacks.
• The Wallabies last ‘won’ a Bledisloe Cup series against New Zealand 2-nil in 2001.
• Just two players – David Campese (8) and Matthew Burke (7) have scored more than the six tries that Adam Ashley-Cooper has posted against the All Blacks. 
• Stirling Mortlock and Lote Tuqiri (both nine) are the only Australians to have scored more than the eight tries Ashley-Cooper has posted in the annual Southern Hemisphere championship formerly known as the Tri Nations.
  
  Eden Park – Background Notes
   
• Remodelled in preparation for the 2011 Rugby World Cup, Eden Park last year became the first venue to have witnessed two Rugby World Cup finals. Both matches saw New Zealand beat France.
• The ground is one of three Test venues to have been used within the Auckland City area. The first ever Test in Auckland was played at Potter’s Park in 1908 when New Zealand beat the Anglo-Welsh.
• In 1958, New Zealand’s 17-8 win over Australia was played at the Epsom Showgrounds while construction of the old number one grandstand at Eden Park was in progress.
• New Zealand lost its first ever Test at Eden Park, 9-5 to South Africa in 1921.
• The ground, which also hosts one-day cricket internationals, is home to the Auckland NPC side and the Blues in Fx Pro Super Rugby and has also hosted NRL rugby league matches in each of the last two years.
• All Black first five-eighths Andrew Mehrtens kicked a world record equalling nine penalty goals in New Zealand’s 34-15 win over Australia in 1999.
  
  New Zealand v Australia at Eden Park