Cheika was forced to rejig his back row after Hooper was handed a week’s ban for charging into a ruck shoulder first to clear out England fullback Mike Brown last Saturday. He is 21 and has played in only five Tests.
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Competition for a place in Australia’s line-up had inspired Bernard Foley to a match-winning Pool A performance over England at the Rugby World Cup, making them favourites to meet New Zealand in the final.
In tyro Sean McMahon and the tough-as-teak Ben McCalman the Wallabies have two gifted back-rowers who have already impressed at this World Cup and are ideal stop-gap options.
“The experience they have in the pack as a whole is something we respect and we have to prove on the field we can match them”.
Hook, who was a key member of the Wales squad that reached the 2011 World Cup semi-finals, said there had been a surge in self-belief and confidence within the Welsh camp since the win over England and to a lesser extent their subsequent hard-fought victory against Fiji.
Wales coach Warren Gatland has also selected two openside flankers, with Justin Tipuric joining captain Sam Warburton in their back row. The loss to the Wallabies meant the hosts were dumped out of the tournament with one pool match still to play.
‘If we were playing a final, he would be fine, but we are just not prepared to take any risks with anyone that is not 100 per cent, ‘ Hansen said.
Australia are hopeful the Toulon centre could feature in the Pool A decider at Twickenham, but if not then winger Adam Ashley-Cooper feels the squad has enough strength in depth to cope. “Hopefully, knowing what is on the line this time, will bring out the best in us”. “Matty Toomua is a great defender, Tevita [Kuridrani], myself, we can always reshuffle and work as a midfield combination there”.
HOOKER Scott Baldwin is hoping to help his Wales teammates lose their Australian jitters in Saturday’s World Cup showdown at Twickenham, writes Chris Kirwan.
“They’re both magnificent players, very easy for me to play alongside them”.
“But again it’s not so big a burden this weekend, there’s excitement going in to it”.
Cheika made sure to express his disappointment at the citing, but you can’t help but feel he was thrilled with the minimum suspension.
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The head coach told a packed media conference on Thursday morning that the focus was to “not necessarily win the group – even though one’s a outcome of the other”.
