Robbie Deans has wasted little time in naming his first Australian squad - 30 players, with 6 newcomers.

Much like Graham Henry's team, there's a good mix of old and new, with veteran center Stirling Mortlock named as captain. Australia has seen some of it's greatest players move on from last year, but Deans is the right man to find replacements for the likes of George Gregan and Stephen Larkham - big boots to fill? Oh, yes.

Like the rest of the rugby world, we can't wait for the first Bledisloe Cup match of the year. Deans vs Henry - should be a classic.

Forwards: Ben Alexander (Brumbies), Al Baxter (NSW), Richard Brown (Western Force), Mark Chisholm (Brumbies), Matt Dunning (NSW), Rocky Elsom (NSW), Adam Freier (NSW), Stephen Hoiles (Brumbies), James Horwill (Reds), Stephen Moore (Reds), Dean Mumm (NSW), Wycliff Palu (NSW), Tatafu Polota-Nau (NSW), Benn Robinson (NSW), George Smith (Brumbies), Phil Waugh (NSW), Nathan Sharpe (Western Force).

Backs: Luke Burgess (NSW), Adam Ashley-Cooper (Brumbies), Ryan Cross (Western Force), Berrick Barnes (Reds), Sam Cordingley (Reds), Matt Giteau (Western Force), Peter Hynes (Reds), Digby Ioane (Reds), Stirling Mortlock (Brumbies), Brett Sheehan (NSW), Cameron Shepard (Western Force), Lote Tuqiri (NSW), Lachie Turner (NSW).

Burgess, Mumm, Turner, Cross, Brown, Hynes and Alexander are the debutants in the squad.

Unavailable due to injury are: Greg Holmes (Reds), Dan Vickerman (NSW), Chris Latham (Reds), Drew Mitchell (Western Force), Hugh McMeniman (Reds) and Scott Staniforth (Western Force).

That's quite the list of talent unavailable for Deans...

It'll be interesting to see what kind of impact Deans will have on the Aussies. There's a huge difference coming from the Crusaders (where he's developed a core group of players into a championship winning team), to Australia, where he'll essentially be starting from scratch.

It's important that no matter what the results are, they allow Deans to continue to develop his own team. We think it'll take a year before we start seeing the real impact of Deans in Australia...

It's been a real shame that the NZRU couldn't find a way to keep Deans in New Zealand. We hope it doesn't (but we're pretty sure it will...) come back to bite us.

Cya soon, Robbie.