Philip gets another shot at Wallabies

Melbourne Rebels lock Matt Philip has a second chance in less than a year to press his claim for a Wallabies spot by playing against them.

rugby

Matt Philip of the Rebels is eyeing off more games for the Wallabies. (AAP)

He's already broken into the Wallabies squad once by playing against them and now Melbourne Rebels lock Matt Philip has the chance to do it again.

Philip has been chosen in the Australian Super Selection side to play the Wallabies in Sydney on Friday evening.

Less than a year ago, Philip played for the Barbarians against the Wallabies and subsequently earned a spot in the spring tour squad, winning his first three Test caps off the bench.

"Last year I was fortunate enough to play in the Barbarians game and the next day Cheik (Wallabies coach Michael Cheika) rang me and said 'you want to come on the spring tour?' and of course I said 'yes,'" Philip said.

He missed out on the squad for the June series against Ireland, but Friday's match offers Philip and his teammates the opportunity to impress Cheika.

"I think that's probably the goal in the back of everyone's mind that they want to put a good performance out there to show Cheik what they can do," Philip said.

The squad named on Tuesday included two players from the Western Force, who have maintained a strong presence in Perth, despite being cut from Super Rugby after last year's competition.

"There's a player that's coming over that is a Western Force born and bred player, Tevin Ferris, so without that Western Force opportunity he may not have been selected for this team," Force five-eighth Andrew Deegan said.

Former Australian under 20 and schoolboys representative Deegan said he was happy in Perth and wasn't viewing Friday's game as a shop window to earn a Super Rugby contract with an east coast team.

But with no obvious specialist five-eighth threatening long-time Wallabies incumbent Bernard Foley, Deegan admitted Friday's game offered him a chance to impress.

"That's probably the position we might be lacking a bit of depth in, so I guess if I can put my hand up and try and see what I can do, maybe there's an opportunity there," Deegan said.


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