{"id":216474,"date":"2025-10-16T00:18:08","date_gmt":"2025-10-16T00:18:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/216474\/"},"modified":"2025-10-16T00:18:08","modified_gmt":"2025-10-16T00:18:08","slug":"nine-wallabies-named-in-strong-australia-a-side-for-japan-xv-clash","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/216474\/","title":{"rendered":"Nine Wallabies named in strong Australia A side for Japan XV clash"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Queensland Reds<\/a> rake Matt Faessler<\/a> will captain an experienced Australia<\/a> A side against Japan<\/a> XV in Osaka this weekend, as one of nine Wallabies selected in the matchday 23.<\/p>\n

Faessler will pack down in the front row alongside another Australian international, with Isaac Kailea named to start at loosehead prop.<\/p>\n

Brumbies<\/a> prop Rhys van Nek has been selected at tighthead prop, while Darcy Swain<\/a> and Josh Canham<\/a> round out the tight five as the second-row pairing.<\/p>\n

Pete Samu will wear a gold jersey for the first time in two years, handed leadership duties as the vice-captain and first-choice No. 8. Brumbies duo Rory Scott<\/a> and Luke Reimer<\/a> will line up at blindside and openside flanker respectively.<\/p>\n

Former Australia U20s captain Teddy Wilson<\/a> partners Wallabies playmaker Ben Donaldson<\/a> in the halves, with Hamish Stewart<\/a> and Joey Walton<\/a> combining in the midfield.<\/p>\n

Coach Simon Cron has selected New Zealand-born Ollie Sapsford<\/a> on the left edge, with Tim \u2018the Junkyard Dog\u2019 Ryan lining up on the right, and Western Force<\/a> outside back Mac Grealy<\/a> will wear the No. 15 jumper at fullback.<\/p>\n

On the bench, Wallabies backrower Seru Uru<\/a> is one of four Reds players named to come off the pine. Joe Brial<\/a>, Harry McLaughlin-Phillips and Lachlan Anderson will also look to make a difference when called upon.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe squad has had a great week here in Osaka for what\u2019s going to be a high-quality match against a well-prepared Japan XV<\/a> side,\u201d coach Cron said in a statement.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s a number of guys in the team who are earning international experience for the first time, while there\u2019s others who have competed at the highest level over a number of seasons.\u00a0 They\u2019re all equally excited to perform well in Australian colours on Saturday.\u201d<\/p>\n

This match at Osaka\u2019s Yodoko Sakura Stadium will get underway at 3:00 pm AEDT on Saturday afternoon.<\/p>\n

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

1. Isaac Kailea \u2013 NSW Waratahs
2. Matt Faessler (c) \u2013 Queensland Reds
3. Rhys van Nek \u2013 ACT Brumbies
4. Darcy Swain \u2013 Western Force
5. Josh Canham \u2013 Queensland Reds
6. Rory Scott \u2013 ACT Brumbies
7. Luke Reimer \u2013 ACT Brumbies
8. Pete Samu<\/a> (vc) \u2013 NSW Waratahs
9. Teddy Wilson \u2013 NSW Waratahs
10. Ben Donaldson (vc) \u2013 Western Force
11. Ollie Sapsford \u2013 ACT Brumbies
12. Hamish Stewart \u2013 Western Force
13. Joey Walton \u2013 NSW Waratahs
14. Tim Ryan<\/a> \u2013 Queensland Reds
15. Mac Grealy \u2013 Western Force<\/p>\n

Replacements<\/p>\n

16. Ethan Dobbins<\/a> \u2013 NSW Waratahs
17. Lington Ieli<\/a> \u2013 ACT Brumbies
18. Dan Botha \u2013 NSW Waratahs
19. Seru Uru \u2013 Queensland Reds
20. Joe Brial<\/a> \u2013 Queensland Reds
21. Henry Robertson<\/a> \u2013 Western Force
22. Harry McLaughlin-Phillips \u2013 Queensland Reds
23. Lachlan Anderson \u2013 Queensland Reds<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Queensland Reds rake Matt Faessler will captain an experienced Australia A side against Japan XV in Osaka this…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":216475,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[567],"tags":[64,63,760,85],"class_list":["post-216474","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\/216474","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=216474"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/216474\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/216475"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=216474"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=216474"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=216474"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}