Tri-Nations:Australia have named a full-strength side for Saturday's opening Tri-Nations clash with South Africa in Cape Town. As expected, coach John Connolly abandoned Australia's brief experiment to find the next generation of Wallabies, opting for the safety of experience over youth.
George Gregan and Stephen Larkham were reunited in the halves while Matt Giteau joined captain Stirling Mortlock in the centres.
Lote Tuqiri and Drew Mitchell retained their places on the wing while Julian Huxley kept the fullback job in the absence of the injured Chris Latham.
Nathan Sharpe and Dan Vickerman were picked as the locks in the hope of countering the powerful Springboks lineout while George Smith, Rocky Elsom and Wycliff Palu were named the loose forwards. Guy Shepherdson and Matt Dunning were given the nod as the two props while heavyweight hooker Stephen Moore was picked ahead of the lighter Adam Freier.
The Australians are unbeaten this year after two Tests against Wales and another against Fiji but Connolly said his team were under no illusions that the South Africans would be a more difficult prospect.
"South African rugby is in a pretty good space at the moment, probably in the best shape it's been for some time," said Connolly.
AUSTRALIA: (v South Africa in Cape Town):Julian Huxley; Drew Mitchell, Stirling Mortlock (capt), Matt Giteau, Lote Tuqiri; Stephen Larkham, George Gregan; Wycliff Palu, George Smith, Rocky Elsom, Dan Vickerman, Nathan Sharpe; Guy Shepherdson, Stephen Moore, Matt Dunning. Replacements: Adam Freier, Al Baxter, Mark Chisholm, Stephen Hoiles, Phil Waugh, Adam Ashley-Cooper, Mark Gerrard.
:quality(70)/cloudfront-eu-central-1.images.arcpublishing.com/irishtimes/YVIRIOZQ35EWRPZXR27KGMO6YU.png)