Gregan to earn 100th cap for Australia

George Gregan returns from injury to make his 100th appearance for the Wallabies against a rejuvenated South Africa on Saturday.

The diminutive scrumhalf will join the ranks of the legends when he trots out at the Subiaco Oval in Perth. He will captain the side, having recovered from an injury picked up against the physical Pacific Islanders in a controversial tackle. The Aussie marshal has come through a tough period over the course of the last year with many Australians questioning his form and selection in the run-up and through the World Cup.

There are no such questions now, but typically Gregan played down any hype, telling a media gathering “I just want to play well personally and I hope the team gets a good result as well.

“From a team point of view – and always looking at keeping things in a team perspective – it’s important we play well and put all the things that we’ve worked on this week into a really strong team performance.”

Chris Whitaker loses out to Gregan in one of three changes to the Wallaby lineup. Radike Samo is dropped for George Smith as Eddie Jones opts for pace in the backrow, and Jeremy Paul comes in for th suspnded Brendan Cannon, sitting out the end of his two-week suspension for throwing a punch against the All Blacks.

The dropping of Samo has been quite controversial, as was his initial selection. Samo, a Fijian, had ben selected by Fiji for their Pacific Islands triangular tournament in June when Jones selected him for Australia. Playing for the Brumbies in Australia, he opted for the Wallabies, to the annoyance of the Fijians. He now finds himself out of the match 22 as John Roe is named on the bench.

Australia:
15 Chris Latham, 14 Clyde Rathbone, 13 Stirling Mortlock, 12 Matt Giteau, 11 Lote Tuqiri, 10 Stephen Larkham, 9 George Gregan (captain), 8 David Lyons, 7 Phil Waugh, 6 George Smith, 5 Nathan Sharpe, 4 Justin Harrison, 3 Al Baxter, 2 Jeremy Paul, 1 Bill Young.
Replacements: 16 Adam Freier, 17 Matt Dunning, 18 Daniel Vickerman, 19 John Roe, 20 Chris Whitaker, 21 Matthew Burke, 22 Wendell Sailor.

Kick-off: 10.00 GMT