Emirates Western Force lock Nathan Sharpe will play his final game in Perth when he runs on of the Wallabies in their Rugby Championship fixture against the Springboks in Perth on Saturday night.
Sharpe farewelled the Sea of Blue in his final home Super Rugby fixture against the Brumbies in June, but will appropriately get an opportunity for one last Test match in West Australia before retiring at the end of this campaign.
Meanwhile, Stephen Moore is set to become the most capped hooker in Australian Test history on Saturday night, while Dominic Shipperley stands poised to be Australia’s newest Wallaby.
Moore, who tied previous record holder Jeremy Paul’s tally of 72 Test appearances last month in Auckland, will take sole ownership of the title at Paterson’s Stadium as Australia’s leading hooker.
The 29-year-old, who earlier in the year became just the 24th Australian to play 100 Fx Pro Super Rugby matches, made his debut against Samoa at Sydney in 2005.
Twenty-one-year-old Shipperley steps up after two impressive seasons patrolling the backline flanks for the Queensland Reds after being selected in favour of Emirates Western Force outside back Nick Cummins.
The scorer of 10 tries from just 24 appearances in Fx Pro Super Rugby, Shipperley has previously represented Australia in Schools, Under-20 and Sevens.
Shipperley also scored a hat-trick for the Under-20s when the side beat South Africa in the semi-finals of the 2010 Under-20 World Cup, to reach Australia’s maiden final at that event.
His selection comes just two weeks after Liam Gill, who also starred in the national Schools side a year after Shipperley had featured, became the 861st player to represent Australia in Tests, with Shipperley to claim Wallaby number 862.
Other features of the line-up named for Australia’s third match of the inaugural Rugby Championship see No 8 Radike Samo return to the Test starting pack for the first time this year, with Scott Higginbotham relocating to the bench.
With the versatile Adam Ashley-Cooper reverting to centre for the 30th time in his now 69-Test career, Kurtley Beale is also back in the starting line-up, returning to fullback after he played from the bench last time out.
Last term’s John Eales Medal winner who will play his 28th Test, 22 of which will have been from fullback, supplied the after-the-siren penalty goal from near halfway which clinched Australia’s epic win on the South African high veldt in 2010.
There is also a change amongst the backline reinforcements, with Mike Harris reintroduced after he got through 80 minutes of club play in Brisbane last weekend.
The Wallabies team to play South Africa in The Castrol Edge Rugby Championship and Mandela Challenge Plate Test at Paterson’s Stadium in Perth (kick-off: 6pm AWST, 8pm AEST) is:
15. Kurtley Beale (Melbourne Rebels)
14. Dominic Shipperley (Queensland Reds)
13. Adam Ashley-Cooper (NSW Waratahs)
12. Berrick Barnes (NSW Waratahs)
11. Digby Ioane (Queensland Reds)
10. Quade Cooper (Queensland Reds)
9. Will Genia (c) (Queensland Reds)
8. Radike Samo (Queensland Reds)
7. Michael Hooper (Brumbies)
6. Dave Dennis (NSW Waratahs)
5. Nathan Sharpe (Western Force)
4. Sitaleki Timani (NSW Waratahs)
3. Ben Alexander (Brumbies)
2. Stephen Moore (Brumbies)
1. Benn Robinson (NSW Waratahs)
Reserves:
16. Tatafu Polota Nau (NSW Waratahs)
17. James Slipper (Queensland Reds)
18. Scott Higginbotham (Queensland Reds)
19. Liam Gill (Queensland Reds)
20. Nick Phipps (Melbourne Rebels)
21. Mike Harris (Queensland Reds)
22. Anthony Fainga’a (Queensland Reds)