Rising star James O'Connor will make his first Test start for Australia against Italy on Saturday.
Rising Wallaby star given full Test debut against Italy
Australia's rising star James O'Connor has been brought into the side at full-back to make his first international start in Saturday's Test against Italy at Canberra Stadium.
Coach Robbie Deans has made just two changes to his starting XV that thrashed the Barbarians last weekend, with blindside flanker Dean Mumm also coming in.
Waratahs forward Mumm replaces the injured Matt Hodgson, while 18-year-old O'Connor replaces Adam Ashley-Cooper in the only other change.
O'Connor became the second youngest ever Test Wallaby last year when, at the age of 18 years and 126 days, he made his debut off the bench during Australia's 30-20 win over Italy at Padova.
Peter Kimlin moves onto the bench and will make his Test debut if called upon for the first appearance by the Wallabies in the national capital in nine years.
Rocky KO'd
Rocky Elsom, who has just returned to Australia after a successful stint with Irish side Leinster, would have replaced Hodgson had a knee injury not proved worse than first thought.
"Mentally, Rocky has returned to Australia good to go but examinations have shown that the damage, in terms of the bruising in behind his right knee, was a little bit worse than was first thought," Deans said.
"Because of that, we now need to unload the knee and give it sufficient time to settle down."
Lachie Turner retains his place on the wing after an impressive performance against the Baa-Baas, and will add to his two Test caps achieved in 2008. Turner will also be looking to repeat his effort from November last year when he scored his maiden Test try against the
Azzurri.
Benn Robinson, Stephen Moore and Al Baxter will prop up the Australian scrum, while Tatafu Polota-Nau will again add his unique impact from the bench.
Australia: 15 James O'Connor, 14 Lachie Turner, 13 Stirling Mortlock (c), 12 Berrick Barnes, 11 Drew Mitchell, 10 Matt Giteau, 9 Luke Burgess, 8 Richard Brown, 7 George Smith, 6 Dean Mumm, 5 Nathan Sharpe, 4 James Horwill, 3 Al Baxter, 2 Stephen Moore, 1 Benn Robinson.
Replacements: 16 Tatafu Polota-Nau, 17 Ben Alexander, 18 Peter Kimlin, 19 David Pocock, 20 Josh Valentine, 21 Quade Cooper, 22 Adam Ashley-Cooper.
