Five Sydney University Football Club (SUFC) representatives have been named in the Wallabies 39-man training squad for the upcoming June tests – Waratahs Berrick Barnes, Dave Dennis and Bernard Foley; Western Forces’ – Ben McCalman; and Melbourne Rebel – Nick Phipps.
Dennis (Grad. Dip. Commerce) and Foley (B. Economics) are both Sydney University Elite Athlete Program (EAP) scholarship holders, while Barnes, McCalman and Phipps are all former scholarship holders.
Ben McCalman flew into Sydney on Sunday night to assemble for the squad’s first training camp and will be joined by Barnes, Dennis, Foley and Phipps on Wednesday.
The players will return to their respective franchises on Friday before this weekend’s upcoming Super Rugby games, with Deans to announce his 23-man team on Sunday 3rd June, just 48 hours out from the Wallabies v Scotland test on Tuesday 5th June in Newcastle.
Bernard Foley may be the debutant of the group but he certainly has the knowledge and experience when it comes to representing his country.
Foley was the Australian Sevens captain for the 2010/2011 IRB World Series and was named the Australian Sevens Player of the Year in 2011.
While Dave Dennis is yet to earn a Wallaby test cap, he has played numerous mid-week tests in the green and gold against the Barbarians in November 2011 and Gloucester and Cardiff Blues in 2009.
The Super Rugby competition takes a break for the in-bound International Test series, with Wallaby games taking place on Tuesday 5th June v Scotland and three tests against Wales on Saturday 9th June in Brisbane, Saturday 16th June in Melbourne and Saturday 23rd June in Sydney.
