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Orthodox bench Darwin, Stiles in Wallabies squad to face Maoris
SYDNEY (Reuters) -- The Australian Rugby Union (ARU) included two new caps in a 22-man squad Tuesday for a warm-up match against New Zealand Maori in Sydney on Saturday. Uncapped props Ben Darwin, 24, from Super 12 champions the ACT Brumbies, and Nick Stiles, 27, from Queensland, won selection for the game, which Australia will not count as a test. New South Wales openside flanker Phil Waugh, the surprise winner of Australia's Super 12 player of the year on Friday, was left out as the Wallabies cut their squad from 30 to 22. The game is a warm-up for the first test of the three-match series against the British and Irish Lions in Brisbane on June 30. "We just decided this week to go with an orthodox bench, that's not to say we're ruling out the fact we might call on Phil at some stage," Australia's coach Rod Macqueen said. Waugh, 21, was particularly disappointed because his uncle Laly Haddon, a former New Zealand Maori player, planned to travel to Australia to watch the match. "There's a whole season, against the Lions and then the Tri-Nations series, so hopefully I will be given an opportunity in the Australia A game (against the Lions) and then again for New South Wales," Australian Associated Press quoted Waugh as saying. "And given the opportunity later on for the Wallabies, I'll be ready to play well." Waugh made his test debut off the bench in Australia's 22-19 loss to England at Twickenham in November last year. Tough contest Meanwhile, Macqueen said the Wallabies would be doing more contact work in the next few days in preparation for a bruising affair on Saturday. "We know it's going to be a very tough game so we're just hoping that we'll be able to overcome that and play some good football," Macqueen said. Australia: Forwards: Matt Cockbain, Mark Connors, Ben Darwin, John Eales (captain), Michael Foley, David Giffin, Toutai Kefu, David Lyons, Glenn Panoho, Jeremy Paul, George Smith, Nick Stiles. Backs: Matthew Burke, Elton Flatley, George Gregan, Nathan Grey, Daniel Herbert, Chris Latham, Stephen Larkham, Joe Roff, Andrew Walker, Chris Whitaker.
Copyright 2003 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved.
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