Wallabies World Cup squad
John Connelly announced his squad on Monday night at the John Eales dinner. The 30 man squad had a couple of surprises for those outside the inner circle, with the uncapped Berrick Barnes at 21 the youngest member of the squad and Greg Holmes selected without playing in the last 7 tests. It was no surprise that Stirling Mortlock was named captain of the team, while Phil Waugh and George Gregan will share the vice-captaincy in France. Back rowers David Lyons and Wycliff Palu were both included in the squad, despite both players carrying injuries.
The squad will attend three training camps in Australia, the first of which will be held in Manly from Tuesday 31 July, prior to their departure for the World Cup on August 23. They will have a week-long pre-tournament camp in Portugal and a promotional visit to Paris before arriving at their World Cup training base in Montpellier on August 31. They play in pool B and their opening pool match is against Japan in Lyon on 8 September before matches against Wales in Cardiff, Fiji in Montpellier and Canada in Bordeaux.
Qantas Wallabies squad for the 2007 Rugby World Cup in alphabetical order is:
Adam Ashley-Cooper, Berrick Barnes, Alistair Baxter, Mark Chisholm, Sam Cordingley, Matt Dunning, Rocky Elsom, Adam Freier, Mark Gerrard, Matt Giteau, George Gregan, Sean Hardman, Stephen Hoiles, Greg Holmes, Julian Huxley, Stephen Larkham, Chris Latham, David Lyons, Hugh McMeniman, Drew Mitchell, Stephen Moore, Stirling Mortlock, Wycliff Palu, Nathan Sharpe, Guy Shepherdson, George Smith, Scott Staniforth, Lote Tuqiri, Dan Vickerman, Phil Waugh.