Sydney University Football Club will have three players involved when the Wallabies meet the Japan Cherry Blossoms in an historic Test at Nissan Stadium, Yokohama, on Saturday.
Halfback Nick Phipps has been named in the starting side for Australia’s first clash with Japan on Japanese soil, while prop Robertson and backrower Ben McCalman have been named on the bench.
Five-eighth Bernard Foley, SUFC’s other representative on the 39-man Spring tour of Japan and the United Kingdom, has been rested with an illness.
Wallabies coach Michael Cheika was forced to reshuffle his backline ahead of the Test, with Foley, Karmichael Hunt (neck) and Will Genia (calf) all sidelined.
Phipps and Reece Hodge will start in the halves, while Kurtley Beale has shifted to fullback with Samu Kerevi to join Tevita Kuridrani in a powerhouse centre combination.
Phipps and Beale will also act as deputies for skipper Michael Hooper in the absence of Genia and Foley.
Saturday afternoon’s clash will also mark a special milestone for McCalman, who is set to earn his 50th cap more than a year since he last ran out in a Wallabies jersey, against New Zealand in August 2015. He spent a year out with leg injuries before returning to the field in the recent Barbarians match.
Following the Japanese Test, the Wallabies will depart for the United Kingdom for Tests against Wales at Principality Stadium on November 12, England at Twickenham on November 19, and Scotland at Murrayfield on November 26.
