Four on Wallabies Spring tour

Sydney University Football Club has four representatives in the 26-man Wallabies squad named this week to make a short tour of the United Kingdom.

Backrowers Ben McCalman and Dave Dennis, utility back Berrick Barnes and halfback Nick Phipps have been named in the squad that will play Tests against the Barbarians at Twickenham on November 26 and Wales at Millennium Stadium, Cardiff on December 3.

McCalman can play second-row, blindside flanker of number eight, while Dennis is a specialist blindside flanker who can also play second-row.

The 26-man playing group is composed, almost in its entirety, of players who recently competed in the seventh Rugby World Cup in New Zealand, where Australia beat Wales 21-18 to win the bronze medal final.

That win enabled the 2011 Tri Nations champions to retain second position on the latest International Rugby Board rankings, rated behind Rugby World Cup winners New Zealand.

Coach Robbie Deans is anticipating a difficult tour, and says the squad has been selected accordingly with Australia’s best available players.

“While this is a relatively brief visit by current standards, both fixtures promise to be exceedingly demanding,” Deans says.

“We’ve just seen at the Rugby World Cup how much and how quickly playing resources can be taxed.”

With the Barbarians to be prepared by All Black coaches Graham Henry and Steve Hansen, and containing a star-studded list including five of the victorious World Cup New Zealanders, Deans says Australia’s visit to Twickenham has all of the ingredients posed by the toughest of Test matches.

The Baabaas have beaten New Zealand and South Africa in the past two years and will be determined to complete a hat-trick against the SANZAR nations, while avenging the 11-18 defeat suffered against a young Wallabies outfit at Wembley Stadium during the last meeting of the two teams in London four seasons ago.

The tour concludes seven days later in Cardiff, with the Wallabies’ 14^th and final outing of the year, against Wales for the James Bevan Trophy. Australia holds the trophy having won on its past two visits to Cardiff.

 “Wales were arguably the most improved side at the Rugby World Cup, and their expectations will have risen on the back of that performance,” Deans says.

Although he didn’t feature in the Test side, Dennis was a member of the initial Wallabies squad of 40 named for the domestic Test season this year, winning his call up after an impressive end to Super Rugby with the Waratahs. The 25-year-old subsequently played for the Australian Barbarians against Canada during that assembly.

Dennis is now specialising as a loose forward, although he can double as a lock, as was evidenced during his inclusion on the 2009 Spring Tour where he appeared in the second-row for the wins over Gloucester and the Cardiff Blues in the midweek tour matches.

The Wallabies will assemble at Coogee before departing for the tour on Saturday, November 19.