SYDNEY // Australia went back to the future on Thursday when Matt Giteau, Drew Mitchell, Greg Holmes, Will Genia and Quade Cooper were recalled to Wallabies colours for the Rugby Championship opener against South Africa.
In his first team announcement for a home Test, coach Michael Cheika also preferred Michael Hooper to David Pocock at openside flanker for Saturday’s match at Lang Park in Brisbane.
Giteau, who won his 92nd cap against Samoa in 2011, will line-up at inside centre alongside Cooper, who last played for Australia with his Queensland Reds partner Genia on the tour of Europe in November 2013.
Prop Holmes, who looks set to get his first taste of international rugby in eight years, was named on the bench along with winger Mitchell, who made his 63rd appearance for his country against Wales in December 2012.
Giteau and Mitchell, who have both been in superb form for European champions Toulon, had their Test careers revived after the Australian Rugby Union this year altered the rules on the eligibility of overseas-based players.
Cooper and Giteau are likely to alternate as first receiver with the latter offering more assured game management to complement the Queensland fly-half’s attacking threat.
“With new combinations comes a new level of energy to our team environment and Will, Quade and Matt certainly bring that,” Cheika said.
“Matt is a true professional and his impact on the team dynamic has been immediate. His form in Toulon and work ethic since joining the squad has been first class.”
Bernard Foley, who started 12 of Australia’s 14 Tests last year at fly-half, was left out of the match day squad along with his fellow New South Wales Waratahs back Kurtley Beale.
In the pack, Will Skelton gets his second start in a Wallabies shirt with No 8 Scott Higginbotham and blindside flanker Scott Fardy making up for the hulking lock’s lack of a line-out game.
Who would occupy the No 7 shirt had attracted most speculation and Cheika decided to stick with incumbent Hooper and name Pocock, who has missed two years of Test rugby through injury, on the bench.
“David has showed tremendous grit and determination to return to the Wallabies in challenging circumstances,” Cheika said.
“To be out of the Wallabies environment for two years and return a better a player shows his character. It is something he and this country should be proud of.”
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