Rugby: Wallabies punt on Horan

By Wynne Gray

Watching how the Springboks suffered with their inexperienced inside backs, the Wallabies will be praying makeshift first five-eighths Tim Horan lasts Saturday's Tri-Nations test in Brisbane.

If he is injured, the replacement options are marginal as Nathan Spooner will not be on the bench and Stephen Larkham will only be coming back to club rugby next week.

Should Horan suffer a mishap, then Nathan Grey will move in from second five-eighths even though he has little background playing in that pivotal position.

It might mirror the awkward play of Gaffie du Toit and his halfback Dave von Hoesslin when they were gambled with last week against the All Blacks.

The Wallabies have made just the one change to their starting XV, which was signalled by coach Rod Macqueen, from the combination which defeated England.

After proving his health and form against New Zealand A, Matt Burke has been returned to fullback in place of Chris Latham. Burke has been out of international rugby since last year when his shoulder was badly damaged as he scored the winning try against the All Blacks in Sydney.

In training yesterday, prop Glen Panoho (wrist) and Jason Little (leg) also proved they were fit enough to back up on the reserve bench. Utility lock Mark Connors is the one replacement change instead of Jim Williams.

Meanwhile, the Springboks are reportedly not about to repeat their experimental inside-back combination. Werner Swanepoel and Braam Van Straaten are being tipped to get the nod for the injury-hit Boks.

Skipper Gary Teichmann, lock Mark Andrews and flanker Corne Krige have all been ruled out of the team which lost 0-28 to the All Blacks.

The worries continued yesterday when three backs all failed to finish training. Centres Japie Mulder and Pieter Muller, and wing Pieter Rossouw all struggled but officials tried to downplay the drama.

Teichmann accepted his side had been diffident against the All Blacks and called for an improved attitude this weekend.

"It's as though we're afraid of losing and we're not prepared to take chances with the football," he said.

Coach Nick Mallett spoke of the struggles but pointed out the Wallabies had been able to win without their stars like John Eales, Burke and Larkham.

"Personally I think the Wallabies have the best backline in the world and it's going to be tough for us," he said after his players had watched a replay of their record loss to the All Blacks.

While the Springboks are based in Brisbane, the Wallabies will stay an hour north at Caloundra until late Friday.

Wallabies: Matt Burke, Joe Roff, Daniel Herbert, Ben Tune, Nathan Grey, Tim Horan, George Gregan, Toutai Kefu, David Wilson (capt), David Giffin, John Welborn, Matt Cockbain, Patricio Noriega, Jeremy Paul, Dan Crowley. Reserves: Chris Latham, Jason Little, Chris Whitaker, Tiaan Strauss, Mark Connors, Glen Panoho, Phil Kearns.