YOUNG Wallabies James O'Connor and Quade Cooper have already proved a big hit on tour with their radical hairdressing skills - and now the duo have been given their chance to snip away at the Barbarians at Wembley on Wednesday night.
Wallabies coach Robbie Deans said at the start of the tour he would give everyone a chance over the six weeks by including all the fringe players in the final match, and he has been true to his word.
Deans insists he has no qualms about playing 18-year-old O'Connor and 20-year-old Cooper against a daunting Barbarians line-up, which is being coached by the ever-wily pair of Jake White and Eddie Jones.
While Cooper has already shown against Italy and Wales that he is up to Test standard, this will be O'Connor's first real opportunity - and it will be all the more difficult since he has been named at fullback, a position to which he is unaccustomed.
Aged 18 years and 126 days, O'Connor became the second youngest player to win a Wallabies Test cap when he came off the bench for the final eight minutes of the Italy international earlier in the tour. While that was a feat in itself, O'Connor has also made his mark within the squad as an exuberant, confident member.
Apart from the onerous task of looking after the team mascot, a stuffed kangaroo, O'Connor's entrepreneurial skills have also come to the fore. He has joined with Cooper in establishing a travelling hair boutique catering for the players' needs, in direct competition to Drew Mitchell and Matt Giteau's longstanding exclusive 'Jackson's' salon.
"It's called 'Joey's' and we've got a lot of big clients," O'Connor said. "We've got some of the big dudes like Lote [Tuqiri]. We do anything. Whatever you like. We use scissors, clippers, whatever you want. We've got the skills. Quade does all the labour, I do the marketing and make all the profits."
Tuqiri's haircut, involving radical shaved stripes on either side of his face, was certainly a talking point after the Wales Test. As Tuqiri said: "Things you do when you're bored."
But it is not O'Connor's spruiking abilities that have intrigued Deans. The Test coach sees the Western Force utility as an exciting prospect and a Barbarians appearance will present him to a wider audience.
"He's a huge individual talent," Deans said. "The purpose to get him under way is to add to his team skills, including the ability to work with and off others. Talent gets you here, but it doesn't take you any further. You have to learn those team skills, and he's been great. He's also starting to get a voice, and giving a bit back in term of chipping other guys, which is good."
Though Cooper and O'Connor are now business partners, competition between them is still intense. Before the Baa-Baas clash, a kick-off between the pair will determine who will take over from Giteau as goalkicker. Cooper is the early favourite.
Elsewhere in the back line, Adam Ashley-Cooper finds himself back in his original Test position of inside centre. Ashley-Cooper has been the nomad of the Wallabies squad, having played both centre positions, wing and fullback. "That's where I started at Test football, but I didn't go too well," Ashley-Cooper said. "But overall I've played a lot of No.12. I'm very comfortable about being closer to the action, and very excited about being there against the Barbarians."
WALLABIES J O'Connor; L Tuqiri, R Cross, A Ashley-Cooper, D Ioane; Q Cooper, B Sheehan; R Brown, G Smith (c), D Mumm, H McMeniman, M Chisholm, M Dunning, T Polota-Nau, S Kepu. Res: A Freier, B Alexander, P Kimlin, D Pocock, L Burgess, L Turner, D Mitchell.
BARBARIANS P Montgomery; J Rokocoko, R Gear, J de Villiers, B Habana; F Steyn, F du Preez; R McCaw, S Burger, J Collins, J Muller, B Botha, S Johnston, J Smit (c), F Pucciarello. Res: M Regan, R Blake, C Jack, N Koster, G Gregan, O Smith, S Williams.