Connolly to blood rookie prop
Gregan back in XV to face the Irish
Australia coach John Connolly will blood yet another rookie at prop when Australia face Ireland in a one-off Test at Subiaco Oval in Perth on Saturday.
After losing hooker Adam Freier and prop Rodney Blake to injury after last weekend's convincing 43-18 Cook Cup triumph over England, Connolly has re-called Western Force hooker Tai McIsaac to the starting team and decided to blood yet another rookie at prop.
Guy Shepherdson, a 24-year-old Brumbies prop, will make his Test Debut after winning selection at tighthead prop.
Shepherdson, who has earned 33 caps in three seasons of Super Rugby with the Brumbies, was an Australian Under-21 representative from 2001 to 2003.
Shepherdson will be the sixth Test debutant used by Australia in three Tests this season.
Connolly said that he had been impressed by Shepherdson's Super 14 campaign.
"He played pretty well through the Super 14 and we were impressed with him during our initial camp. He's got the capacity to learn a lot more and develop his game," said Connolly.
George Gregan returns to scrum-half and will resume captaincy duties after eclipsing Jason Leonard's World Record with his 120th Test appearance last weekend.
Despite making just two changes to his starting lineup outside of Gregan, both forced due to injury, Connolly insisted that he had not settled on his ideal starting fifteen.
"There are still some positions we're not 100 percent sure on and we'll continue to have a look at a few combinations, particularly in the front row," said Connolly.
"Having said that we want to play the team into some form and give players the opportunity to play together and build some cohesion.
"We've been happy with the team's progress in a short space of time but there's always room for improvement."
Connolly is expecting a strong challenge from the in-form Irish team this Saturday night.
"They play a lot more direct and a lot tighter than England and there's no doubt they're a better team than England is at the moment," he said.
"They played well in trying conditions last weekend and were very competitive in their series against New Zealand so they present us with a good challenge."
The winner of Saturday's one-off Test Match will receive the Lansdowne Cup. Australia are the current holders of the Cup after their 30-14 victory on the 2005 year-end tour.
Australia and Ireland have met on two prior occasions in Perth Test matches, with Australia victorious 45-16 in 2003 and 32-26 in 1999.
Australia: 15 Chris Latham, 14 Mark Gerrard, 13 Stirling Mortlock (vice-captain), 12 Mat Rogers, 11 Lote Tuqiri, 10 Stephen Larkham, 9 George Gregan (captain), 8 Rocky Elsom, 7 George Smith, 6 Mark Chisholm, 5 Dan Vickerman (vice-captain), 4 Nathan Sharpe, 3 Guy Shepherdson, 2 Tai McIsaac, 1 Greg Holmes.
Replacements: 16 Jeremy Paul, 17 Al Baxter, 18 Wycliff Palu, 19 Phil Waugh, 20 Sam Cordingley, 21 Clyde Rathbone, 22 Cameron Shepherd.
Date: Saturday, June 24
Kick-off: 18.00 (10.00 GMT)
Venue: Subiaco Oval, Perth
Referee: Kelvin Deaker (New Zealand)
Touch judges: Steve Walsh, Bryce Lawrence (both New Zealand)
Television match official: Lyndon Bray (New Zealand)
Assessor: Dick Byres (Australia)
