{"id":199187,"date":"2025-10-09T01:46:08","date_gmt":"2025-10-09T01:46:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/199187\/"},"modified":"2025-10-09T01:46:08","modified_gmt":"2025-10-09T01:46:08","slug":"10-wallabies-and-svns-star-named-in-australia-a-squad-to-play-japan-xv","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/199187\/","title":{"rendered":"10 Wallabies and SVNS star named in Australia A squad to play Japan XV"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Australia<\/a> A coach Simon Cron has selected 10 Wallabies in a 26-man squad to take on Japan<\/a> XV in Osaka later this month, along with a number of players who have been included in a men\u2019s national XVs program for the first time.<\/p>\n

Former Crusaders, ACT Brumbies<\/a> and Bordeaux<\/a> backrower Pete Samu<\/a> headlines a group of 16 forwards named in the squad. Samu has returned to Australia after signing with the NSW Waratahs<\/a> ahead of the 2026 Super Rugby Pacific<\/a> season.<\/p>\n

Samu has played 33 internationals for the Wallabies, with the loose forward\u2019s most recent Test falling on July 9, 2023, against the Springboks. While Samu missed the squad for the Rugby World Cup<\/a> in France, he did play for Australia A<\/a> against Portugal<\/a> that year.<\/p>\n

Wallabies coach Joe Schmidt recently included Samu in the squad to face the All Blacks<\/a> in Auckland, after Rob Valetini<\/a> was ruled out with a leg injury. Samu didn\u2019t take the field but continues to push for Wallabies honours, as this Australia A selection shows.<\/p>\n

Josh Canham, Matt Faessler<\/a>, Isaac Kailea, Matt Philip<\/a>, Luke Reimer<\/a>, Darcy Swain<\/a> and Seru Uru<\/a> bring a wealth of experience into the squad, having played for the Wallabies as well. In the backs, Ben Donaldson<\/a> and Hamish Stewart<\/a> are both Australian internationals.<\/p>\n

Australia Sevens representative Sid Harvey<\/a> is among a group of players who have been named in a men\u2019s national XVs program for the first time. Harvey was one of the standouts during the NSW Waratahs\u2019 run to the Super Rugby AUS title, beating the Western Force<\/a> in the final.<\/p>\n

On the HSBC SVNS Series, Harvey debuted for Australia during the 2024\/25 season. Harvey starred alongside the likes of Aden Ekanayake<\/a>, Henry Hutchison<\/a> and Henry Paterson all season \u2013 scoring the winner in a third-place playoff against Fiji<\/a> at the Hong Kong Sevens.<\/p>\n

Cron will lead the group as the head coach, and will be supported by newly appointed Force assistant Brad Harris. Junior Wallabies coach Chris Whitaker<\/a> will also serve as an assistant coach of this side.<\/p>\n

\u201cFollowing the success of the Super Rugby AUS competition, this match is another great opportunity for Australian players to test themselves against high-quality opposition,\u201d Cron said in a statement.<\/p>\n

\u201cTo have ten Wallabies in the group shows the depth in Australian Rugby, while there\u2019s some young men here who will be keen to challenge themselves for the first time on the international stage.\u201d<\/p>\n

Australia A squad to take on Japan<\/p>\n

Forwards\u00a0
Tevita Alatini (ACT Brumbies \u2013 Penrith RSL Silverbacks)
Dan Botha (NSW Waratahs \u2013 Mosman Juniors)
Liam Bowron (ACT Brumbies \u2013 Marist College Canberra)
Joe Brial (Queensland Reds \u2013 Easts (Sydney))
Josh Canham (Queensland Reds \u2013 Harlequin Junior Rugby Club)
Ethan Dobbins (NSW Waratahs \u2013 Wests Bulldogs)
Matt Faessler (Queensland Reds \u2013 USQ Saints)
Isaac Kailea (NSW Waratahs \u2013 Harlequin Junior Rugby Club)
Lington Ieli (ACT Brumbies \u2013 Brisbane Boys\u2019 College)
Matt Philip (NSW Waratahs \u2013 Newport Juniors)
Luke Reimer (ACT Brumbies \u2013 Lindfield Junior Rugby Club)
Pete Samu (NSW Waratahs \u2013 Moorabbin Rams)
Rory Scott (ACT Brumbies \u2013 Canberra Royals)
Darcy Swain (Western Force \u2013 Tuggeranong Vikings)
Seru Uru (Queensland Reds \u2013 Wests Bulldogs)
Rhys van Nek (ACT Brumbies \u2013 Easts Rugby (Brisbane))<\/p>\n

Backs
Ben Donaldson (Western Force \u2013 Clovelly Eagles)
Mac Grealy (Western Force \u2013 Souths Kookaburras Toowoomba)
Sid Harvey (NSW Waratahs \u2013 Narrabri Blue Boars)
Harry McLaughlin-Phillips (Queensland Reds \u2013 Gunnedah Red Devils)
Henry Robertson (Western Force \u2013 Scone Brumbies)
Tim Ryan (Queensland Reds \u2013 Brothers Rugby)
Ollie Sapsford (ACT Brumbies \u2013 Uni-Norths Owls)
Hamish Stewart (Western Force \u2013 Toowoomba Bears)
Joey Walton (NSW Waratahs \u2013 Warnervale Wildcats)
Teddy Wilson (NSW Waratahs \u2013 Easts Rugby (Sydney)<\/p>\n

Australia A
Australia A v Japan XV<\/a> at 3:00pm AEDT on Saturday October 18, Yodoko Sakura Stadium, Osaka<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Australia A coach Simon Cron has selected 10 Wallabies in a 26-man squad to take on Japan XV…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":199188,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[567],"tags":[64,63,760,85],"class_list":["post-199187","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-rugby","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-rugby","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/199187","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=199187"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/199187\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/199188"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=199187"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=199187"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=199187"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}