Aussie quartet set for debuts
Australia will hand debuts to four players for their final World Cup pool one match against Papua New Guinea in Townsville on Sunday.
Last Updated: 05/11/08 8:07am
Australia will hand debuts to four players for their final World Cup pool one match against Papua New Guinea in Townsville on Sunday.
Coach Ricky Stuart has rested captain Darren Lockyer as well as hat-trick heroes Greg Inglis and Billy Slater and veteran props Steve Price and Petero Civoniceva from the side which hammered England 52-4 to clinch their place in the semi-finals.
Brisbane winger Darius Boyd, Manly winger David Williams, Canberra stand-off Terry Campese and Manly back-rower Anthony Watmough will all play against the Kumuls, which means every member of the 24-strong squad will get a run-out before the knockout stages.
Campese, nephew of former Wallaby great David Campese, takes over from Lockyer, with hooker Cameron Smith assuming the captaincy.
Karmichael Hunt takes over at full-back and Joel Monaghan and Brent Tate both switch from the wing to centre while Johnathan Thurston returns at scrum half on his home ground after being a late withdrawal from the England match with a shoulder injury.
Australia: K Hunt; D Boyd, B Tate, J Monaghan, D Williams; T Campese, J Thurston; B Kite, C Smith (capt), J Perry, A Watmough, A Tupou, C Fitzgibbon.
Replacements: S Prince, S Price, P Gallen, I Folau.