Townsville, Australia – Wallabiesโค prop Allan Alaalatoa will return to โขthe starting lineup for Saturday’s Rugby Championship clash against Argentina in Townsville, as the team โprepares for a โfast-paced match in forecast temperatures โreachingโฃ 30 degrees Celsius.
Alaalatoa, despite not having scored โฃa try for the Wallabies, demonstrated strong โฃtry-scoring form for the Brumbies last season, โrecording eightโฃ tries. Teammate James Slipper โฃnoted the โขnature of those tries, joking, “They were all, like, one meter [away].” Slipperโ emphasized โAlaalatoa’s power, stating,โ “He’s a โpowerful player. He’s a big man,adn you getโค a player that size close to the line,nine times out of 10,you’ll get him over the line.”
The โคwallabies are utilizing the warm conditions in Townsville โto โacclimatize before heading to Sydney forโข the โคsecond Test. “There’ll be a lot of hurt out there on the field, no doubt,” slipper said. “Luckily โfor us, we’re up here for the week, so we’ll get used to that.” He anticipates โa high-tempo game, adding, “I think it will be aโ fast match – the Argentinians play at really high tempo, quick ball sort of rugby games, and we like to โdo the same. So โฃit sets up to be a really โขfast game. Theโข conditions willโฃ be telling.”
Slipper also expressed confidence โคin veteran five-eighthโข James O’connor, who missedโ crucial kicks in a recent loss in Cape Town.”His career speaks for itself. He’s been aroundโ for a long time. He’s played across the world,so his experience has been really good โฃfor the group,” slipper โขsaid.”Obviously he โคwould love to have got those kicks, โฃbut knowing Rabs he’ll kick on from that,โฃ for sure.”