Deans wields axe as he plots Kiwi downfall.

Provided by 7DAYS.ae

AUSTRALIA coach Robbie Deans has rung the changes for his side's mouthwatering Tri-Nations decider with New Zealand in Brisbane on Saturday.The Wallabies boss has brought in centre Ryan Cross, hooker Stephen Moore, flanker George Smith, tight-head prop Al Baxter and lock Nathan Sharpe as they look to bounce back from the shock 53-8 mauling at the hands of South Africa last time out in Johannesburg.Australia must beat New Zealand to keep alive their chances of wresting back the Bledisloe Cup, with the series locked at one match apiece. The fourth match will be played in Hong Kong on November 1. And it would represent an extra special victory for New Zealand native Deans, after he was overlooked for the All Blacks coaching job following their World Cup flop last year.Deans is doing his best to show the New Zealand chiefs what they are missing as he looks to plot their downfall and secure Australia's first Tri-Nations crown since 2001.Inside centre Timana Tahu and hooker Tatafu Polota-Nau have been omitted from the 22-man squad while flanker Phil Waugh, loose forward Hugh McMeniman and prop Matt Dunning have been relegated to the bench. Cross replaces Tahu at centre in the only personnel change to the backline with the other four switches in the pack as the Wallabies look to compete with the powerful and crafty All Black forwards.Smith comes in for Waugh at open-side flanker, Sharpe returns for McMeniman, Baxter replaces Dunning and Moore is picked at hooker.Adam Freier is the back-up hooker and back-row forward Richard Brown is the only uncapped player named in the squad.And Deans said: "Last week has gone and we've got a fantastic opportunity this weekend. We will be better out of necessity and I'm very excited about this week, and very excited about this group."They weren't proud of their last outing so the priority for us is to be proud of what we leave behind this Saturday.

"We've seen some great encounters in Tri-Nations and you're going to see an even better one on the weekend. There's been a lot of fast, physical games and this will be both. That's the reason for the five-two (forwards-backs) split."Deans has gambled by pairing captain Stirling Mortlock and Cross in the centre, despite the combination having never been tried in a Test before.But Deans explained: "We've gone to the experienced blokes who've spent a bit of time playing together already this year."And he insisted his selection changes were not a case of panic after the Johannesburg nightmare last time out."It's more of the same," he said. "It's a matter of sticking to what serves you and trying to win more of those little contests so that the outcome deals with itself."

AUSTRALIA XV: A Ashley-Cooper, P Hynes, R Cross, S Mortlock (capt), L Tuqiri, M Giteau, S Cordingley, W Palu, G Smith, R Elsom, N Sharpe, J Horwill, 3 A Baxter, S Moore, B Robinson.

2007 Al Sidra Media LLC

Provided by Syndigate.info an Albawaba.com company