The Wallabies have picked their oldest debutant this century to face England on Saturday. The 33-year-old Brumbies lock Cadeyrn Neville will pack down for his first cap in the opening game of the eagerly-awaited three-Test series as Australia look to beef up their forward power to counter the touring side’s primary strength.
Neville was first selected in an Australian squad a decade ago but, until now, has never actually made it on to the field. He is the oldest Wallaby to make his debut since Tiaan Strauss in 1999 and the third oldest since the second world war but his impact for the Brumbies in Super Rugby has earned him a deserved call up.
“I look at ‘Nev’, 33 years old, but if you’ve seen him training he’s a really good athlete,” head coach Dave Rennie said. “He’s a big man at 125-kg so very important to us from a set piece point of view as he’s very good at maul, line-out, scrum and from a perseverance point of view it’s a great story.”
The Japan-based trio of Quade Cooper, Samu Kerevi and Marika Koroibete also all feature in the starting XV for a contest that could well set the tone for the entire series. The uncapped hooker Dave Porecki, who spent four years at London Irish, has earned a call-up but a calf injury has, for now, ruled out prop Taniela Tupou.
Australia: Tom Banks, Andrew Kellaway, Len Ikitau, Samu Kerevi, Marika Koroibete, Quade Cooper, Nic White; Angus Bell, David Porecki, Allan Alaalatoa, Darcy Swain, Cadeyrn Neville, Rob Leota, Michael Hooper (c), Rob Valetini.
Replacements: Folau Fainga’a, Scott Sio, James Slipper, Matt Philip, Pete Samu, Jake Gordon, Noah Lolesio, Jordan Petaia.
England: Freddie Steward, Jack Nowell, Joe Marchant, Owen Farrell, Joe Cokanasiga, Marcus Smith, Danny Care; Ellis Genge, Jamie George, Will Stuart, Maro Itoje, Jonny Hill, Courtney Lawes (c), Tom Curry, Billy Vunipola.
Replacements: Luke Cowan-Dickie, Mako Vunipola, Joe Heyes, Ollie Chessum, Lewis Ludlam, Jack van Poortlviet, Guy Porter, Henry Arundell.
Flanker Michael Hooper will lead his country for the 66th time while the half-back pairing of Nic White and Cooper are reunited for the first time since leading the Wallabies to five straight Test wins in 2021. White and Neville are two of seven Brumbies players named by Rennie to start, with a further five from Australia’s top Super Rugby Pacific side on the bench.
“The line-out and maul is a massive part of the game now and you don’t have a genuine threat up front it’s pretty easy to defend beyond,” Rennie said. “If you’ve got a good maul teams have to spend a bit of time working out how they’re going to defend that and they’re going to have to use some bodies to do it which creates opportunities elsewhere.
“It’s an area that we feel if we can overshadow England then it gives us an opportunity to get our game going and put a bit of heat on the right end of the field. The Brumbies were clearly our best performing side, but we’re picking individuals and we’re really happy with the group.”
Australia have lost their last eight Tests against England since Eddie Jones took over as the red rose head coach, including a 3-0 series whitewash in 2016. Lately, though, they have been showing signs of improvement under Rennie and also have a decent record in Perth. They have lost just once in eight Tests played in Western Australia since 2010.
