Sharpe stranded on 99

Nathan Sharpe’s hopes of becoming only the fifth man to play 100 Tests for Australia were put on hold when the veteran lock was left out of the Wallaby 22 for Sunday’s World Cup semifinal against New Zealand.
 
Wallaby coach Robbie Deans said there was no room for sentiment in a game of such magnitude and instead named Reds’ lock Rob Simmons among his replacements instead of Sharpe for the match at Auckland’s Eden Park.
 
But the 33-year-old Sharpe will have one more shot of reaching the coveted century at this tournament, be it in the October 23 final or third place playoff.
 
“We make the decisions that we believe are going to be best for us and sentiment around the 100 (Tests) doesn’t come into consideration,” Deans said at Friday’s team announcement.
 
“Rob is athletic and he’s got a slightly different skills set to Sharpie and we anticipate a lateral challenge from the All Blacks.
 
“We suspect they will use the ball side to side, they will see some opportunities to do that from our last outing last week (against South Africa) and that’s the point of difference between Simmons and Sharpe.”
 
Sharpe is nearing the end of 10-year international playing career and his opportunities under Deans have been limited this year.
 
“Sharpie took the decision very well, he’s a class act and throughout this year we’ve had a horses for courses approach, so it’s not new territory,” Deans said.
 
“We have a lot of dialogue and the players are aware that only 22 are lucky enough to pull on the jersey on the day, but they’re all committed to each other and to the bigger cause.
 
“We don’t make these decisions lightly, we consider everything and we weigh up what we think will be in our best interests and it’s our responsibility to draw a line in the sand and keep going and we’ve done that.”
 
Only four Wallabies – George Gregan (139), George Smith (110), Stephen Larkham (102) and David Campese (101) – have played 100 Tests for Australia.

AFP