Wallaby stocks running low

SYDNEY: The gulf in rugby stocks between Australia and New Zealand was never more evident than in the respective starting sides for the first match of this year’s Rugby Championship.

The Wallabies, who host the All Blacks in Sydney today (kick-off 12.05pm), were humiliated 3-0 by England in June and have brought back three veteran players in Will Genia, Matt Giteau and Adam Ashley-Cooper, who ply their trade offshore.

Their experience will settle the backline, but their inclusion is also a sign of deeper problems regarding playing stocks in Australian rugby.

The Australian Rugby Union had to relax its selection policy last year, introducing an exemption that allowed for the selection of overseas-based players who met certain eligibility requirements.

That exemption has allowed coach Michael Cheika to bolster his Rugby Championship squad, even though he is still focused on developing greater depth as he builds towards the 2019 World Cup in Japan.

Despite the desire to blood as many players as possible in the next two years, the Wallabies have 13 starting members of the side who lost 34-17 to the All Blacks in the World Cup final last year.

In fact, 20 of Cheika’s 23man match-day squad appeared at Twickenham last October.

Meanwhile, injured All Black hooker Dane Coles has been called up to his side’s bench after Nathan Harris was ruled out with a knee injury.

Coles suffered rib cartilage damage during the Super Rugby play-offs and although he started the final for the Hurricanes, he had to be replaced during the 20-3 victory over the Lions with a recurrence of pain in the affected area.

The 29-year-old had not been named in the match-day squad, but with Harris rupturing his anterior cruciate ligament on Thursday, coach Steve Hansen had no choice but to bring Coles on to the bench.

Hansen said that Coles would be expected to play “for 80 minutes” if Codie Taylor, who will start, gets injured.

After today’s clash, the two sides head to Wellington for their second match of the championship next Saturday.

Both games double as matches for the Bledisloe Cup. – Reuters