Two uncapped players in Wallabies November Test squad
Australia included four uncapped players in their 32-man squad for their tours of Japan and United Kingdom.
Injuries have hit Michael Cheika’s Wallabies ahead of four Tests in November, but presented opportunities for others.
Uncapped quartet Blake Enever, Matt Philip, Billy Meakes and Izaia Perese were named in the squad for matches against Japan, Wales, England and Scotland.
Jack Dempsey (hamstring), Jermaine Ainsley (ankle) and Rory Arnold (knee) are all sidelined.
“Lukhan [Tui] won’t be available for the first two games of the tour because of his hamstring but we feel he will be ready for games three and four so it’s worth bringing him,” Cheika said.
“I wanted to give to the opportunity to two new younger guys [at lock in Enever and Philip] who have had good Super Rugby seasons, and I think Matt Philip has improved out of sight from game one to the final round.
“Rory has a tear in his muscle and it’s come away from the quad so he will have an operation to fix that and he will be out for about four to five weeks.
“Jack has torn two tendons in his hamstring so he will have an operation to re-attach those and it’s a three-to-four month return so he will be back next year for Super Rugby.
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“We’ll be looking to pick our best side for every Test of the tour. These are important matches and we want to be build a consistent, winning mindset and that’s something we want to pass onto next year’s team.”
Jack Maddocks and Liam Wright will head on the tour as development players.
The Wallabies face Japan in Yokohama on Saturday before heading to UK.
Australia: Allan Alaalatoa, Kurtley Beale, Adam Coleman, Blake Enever, Tetera Faulkner, Bernard Foley, Will Genia, Ned Hanigan, Reece Hodge, Michael Hooper, Karmichael Hunt, Sekope Kepu, Samu Kerevi, Marika Koroibete, Tevita Kuridrani, Ben McCalman, Sean McMahon, Billy Meakes, Stephen Moore, Izaia Perese, Nick Phipps, Matt Philip, Tatafu Polota-Nau, Joe Powell, Tom Robertson, Curtis Rona, Rob Simmons, Scott Sio, Henry Speight, Lopeti Timani, Lukhan Tui, Jordan Uelese.