Australia
Deans hands five Australia debuts
ESPN Staff
June 3, 2012
Australia's David Pocock lokos for an opening, South Africa v Australia, Tri-Nations, Loftus Versfeld, Pretoria, South Africa, August 28, 2010
David Pocock will captain Australia against Scotland in the absence of James Horwill © Getty Images
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Australia coach Robbie Deans has handed debut caps to five players for the Wallabies Test against Scotland in Newcastle on Tuesday, in a team captained by David Pocock.

Luke Moraham will start at full-back, with his Reds teammate Mike Harris at inside-centre. Harris will be the Wallabies first-choice kicker.

The Brumbies also provide two debutants. New Zealand-born Joe Tomane lines up on the right wing, while Dan Palmer will anchor the scrum at tight-head prop. The Waratah's Dave Dennis is the fifth new cap and will line up alongside Pocock and Scott Higginbotham in the back row.

"With another Test four days after Scotland, and given the injuries that we've had to deal with, we've effectively had to select two combinations to win two Test matches at the same time," Deans said. "They'll be hungry and will sense the opportunity, striking us first up on a limited preparation. A feature of the Scottish team under Andy Robinson is that they are very well organised. The Scottish teams of my experience have always been extremely physical in their approach, so they will be very direct and come right at us."

Following the match against Scotland, Australia will move to Brisbane to begin their preparations for the three-Test series against Wales. The sides meet in Brisbane on June 9, Melbourne on June 16 and Sydney on June 23.

Australia: Luke Morahan, Joe Tomane, Anthony Fainga'a, Mike Harris, Digby Ioane , Berrick Barnes , Will Genia, James Slipper, Stephen Moore , Dan Palmer, Sitaleki Timani, Nathan Sharpe, Dave Dennis , David Pocock (captain), Scott Higginbotham Replacements: Saia Fainga'a, Ben Alexander, Rob Simmons , Michael Hooper, Nick Phipps, Pat McCabe, Adam Ashley Cooper

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