Uncapped five in Cheika’s first Wallaby squad

Thursday, 23 October 2014 00:05 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

Sydney (AFP): New Wallabies coach Michael Cheika included five debutants in his first squad unveiled Wednesday for the November Tests in England, France, Ireland and Wales. The 33-man Australia squad, led by 22-year-old Michael Hooper, includes three changes to the group that lost 29-28 to the All Blacks last Saturday.

Michael Cheika - AFP The tour sees the return of injured duo Matt Toomua and Ben McCalman and the inclusion of uncapped Melbourne Rebels back-row forward Sean McMahon. He is one of five uncapped players alongside Western Force pair Tetera Faulkner (prop) and Kyle Godwin (centre), and wingers Henry Speight (ACT Brumbies) and Tom English (Melbourne Rebels). The Wallabies are due to fly to Europe on Friday for a five-match tour, which kicks off against the Barbarians at Twickenham on November 1. Cheika, who will remain coach of the New South Wales Waratahs, vowed to bring his passion to the Wallabies following the shock resignation of Ewen McKenzie on Saturday. But he said he did not want to discuss the future of his Waratahs star Kurtley Beale, who has been stood down pending a hearing on Friday in the latest in a series of off-field troubles which ultimately led to McKenzie’s walkout. “I won’t be answering any questions on that today... I don’t want to prejudice anything that’s going to happen with Kurtley in any way,” said Cheika. With Cheika’s appointment, the Australian Rugby Union also brought in NSW Waratahs defence coach Nathan Grey. He will be part of a three-man coaching line-up for the tour alongside Cheika and existing forwards coach Andrew Blades. A year before the World Cup, the tour under a new coach offers Australia a fresh start after successive defeats to South Africa, Argentina and the All Blacks.