Wallabies

A Wallabies regular until the Rugby Championship this year, the five-eighth will skipper the invitational team at Sydney's Allianz Stadium on October 28.

Jones, a former Wallabies coach, tweeted the announcement on Wednesday and interviewed the 70-test veteran on his 2GB radio show.

Cooper has been playing for Brisbane City in the NRC this season while the Wallabies have played New Zealand, South Africa and Argentina.

The 29-year-old said he would be out to entertain rugby fans with a focus on attack.

Foley has slotted 15 from 15 in the two Tests since the second Bledisloe, a performance skills coach Mick Byrne simply categorised as an off night.

"I think it's faith, especially when you have a hiccup," Byrne said.

"It's like in any sport - golfers are a classic one.

"We look at (Marc) Leishman, he's just won the (BMW) tournament but you go back to a tournament he had before, he wasn't hitting the ball really well there.

"You just have those moments at the top end of games.

Forrest outlined plans on Wednesday for his Indo Pacific Rugby Championship, a 10-round competition that will run between August and October next year concurrently with Australia's National Rugby Championship. 

The billionaire has plans to lure Australian players back from overseas, creating a competition where some of the nation's best can earn a quick dollar that won't burn a hole into the pockets of the Australian Rugby Union. 

Folau tweeted: "I love and respect all people for who they are and their opinions. but personally, I will not support gay marriage."

He was immediately inundated with dozens of replies criticising him for his stance.

Folau is believed to be the first high-profile sportsperson to have publicly announced their opposition to same-sex marriage.

It comes after numerous sporting organisations - including the Australian Rugby Union, the NRL, Cricket Australia and Football Federation Australia - declared their support for a 'yes' vote in the government's postal survey.

Cheika has made four changes to the Wallabies starting side for their match against the Springboks with hooker Tatafu Polota-Nau, prop Sekope Kepu, second-rower Adam Coleman and winger Reece Hodge all returning. 

Named on the bench, Melbourne Rebels rookie hooker Uelese is in line to make his test debut despite having played less than half an hour of Super Rugby. 

Many will see it as a gamble against a formidable Springboks pack, but Cheika is hellbent that Uelese, a standout at U20 level, is made of the right stuff. 

Beale, who was one of the Wallabies’ best in the enthralling encounter, was visibly emotional after the match, speaking about the result.

“That one really hurts, heartbreaking stuff, huge effort from the lads, couldn't ask anything more,” he said.

“A couple of handling errors cost us in the end and that was just a true Test match.

“I think both teams played to the very end and it's just unfortunate that we were put in that position in the end and that one really just cuts the heart a bit.

Critics rounded on the Wallabies after they were put to the sword in the first half of the Rugby Championship opener in Sydney last weekend and they responded with a rousing start under the roof in Dunedin.

Israel Folau scored the first try of a chaotic clash inside 30 seconds and Michael Cheika's men led 17-0 with only 15 minutes played following further scores from captain Michael Hooper and Bernard Foley.

Read said the team only had to watch last week’s second half, where they bizarrely let  to see the dangers of the Wallabies, rueing a job they viewed as only half done.

“(You) just have to look at the footage from the last 20 minutes of the game and we know how dangerous they can be,” he said.

“We slightly took our foot off the throat and if we're not there mentally, they're a team that can do that. They're dangerous, they're hungry, they've certainly got a point to prove, so

Read said that was a mistake they wouldn’t want to be making on Saturday in Dunedin.

Coleman's late withdrawal has paved the way for 21-year-old Izack Rodda to make an unexpected test debut off the bench against the world's No 1 ranked side. 

On Thursday, Cheika named Coleman and Rob Simmons as Australia's starting second-rowers but Wallabies officials say Coleman aggravated an existing shoulder injury at the team's last session in Christchurch that day. 

Simmons, played 13 matches for the Reds this year, one of those at blindside flanker after being released by Queensland as coach Nick Stiles looked to the future.

He and fellow World Cup lock Kane Douglas were both out of favour at the Reds, with Simmons left out of the 23 as early as March when the side played the Jaguares.

Simmons played in 11 of the Wallabies' 15 Tests last year, starting in three of the Spring Tour Tests after an injury to Adam Coleman.