Wallaby vice-captain Berrick Barnes is one of six players that will make their Waratahs debuts on Saturday, when the 'Tahs take on the Reds in the opening round of the Super 14 competition at Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane.

New Zealanders Sosene Anesi and Cam Jowitt, along former Reds in Barnes and Drew Mitchell, have been named in the starting XV - while uncapped Kane Douglas and Rory Sidey have been named on the bench.

Head coach Chris Hickey said he was happy to have quite a few selection dilemmas in the lead-in to Round One and is happy with the side selected to contest the Templeton Cup.

"There were a number of positions which were up for grabs during the trial period and it was fantastic to see a number of players put their hand up with solid performances," said Hickey.

"There is certainly a strong nucleus of players from 2009, and our off-season recruitment to strengthen some areas is evident in the 22-man squad.

"It's usually not too hard to get the players up for the first round of the competition, but when it's a match with 128 years of Australian rugby history and the Templeton Cup on the line you know the entire squad is going to be ready on Saturday."

Mitchell and Anesi join Lachie Turner in an exciting back three, while Kurtley Beale and Tom Carter cemented their positions with strong performances in the last two trial matches.

Barnes will take the flyhalf jersey in Round One outside Luke Burgess, while Wycliff Palu, Dean Mumm and captain Phil Waugh form an all-Wallaby back row.

Will Caldwell returns from illness and injury in a second row combination with former Leinster lock Jowitt, while Al Baxter, Tatafu Polota-Nau and Benn Robinson form a formidable front row.

Junior Waratah Douglas forced his way onto the bench courtesy of some eye-catching performances in the trials, as did former Newport-Gwent centre Sidey.

The pair have been named on the bench alongside hooker Damien Fitzpatrick, prop Sekope Kepu, back row forward Ben Mowen, scrumhalf Josh Holmes and inside back Daniel Halangahu.

Meanwhile a number of Super 14 squad members will be looking to force their way into the Waratahs 26-man touring team to travel to South Africa on Monday.

Rob Horne, Dave Dennis, Hendrik Roodt, Chris Alcock, Nemani Nadolo, Chris Thomson, Dan Palmer, Ben Coridas and Jeremy Tilse have all been named in the Junior Waratahs team to take on the Brumby Runners on Saturday in Canberra. They will be joined by the likes of Locky McCaffrey, Brendan McKibbin, Adam D'Arcy and Peter Betham who will all be looking for strong performances ahead of the South African tour squad being announced on Sunday.

"When we arrive back in Sydney on Sunday we'll go through the tapes from both games and decide on the players we'll take to South Africa when we fly out on Monday," said Hickey.

Waratahs: 15 Sosene Anesi, 14 Lachie Turner, 13 Tom Carter, 12 Kurtley Beale, 11 Drew Mitchell, 10 Berrick Barnes, 9 Luke Burgess, 8 Wycliff Palu, 7 Phil Waugh (captain), 6 Dean Mumm, 5 Cam Jowitt, 4 Will Caldwell, 3 Al Baxter, 2 Tatafu Polota-Nau, 1 Benn Robinson.
Replacements: 16 Damien Fitzpatrick, 17 Sekope Kepu, 18 Kane Douglas, 19 Ben Mowen, 20 Josh Holmes, 21 Daniel Halangahu, 22 Rory Sidey.

Date: Saturday, February 13
Venue: Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane
Kick-off: 18.30 AEST (19.30 AEDT; 10.30 GMT)
Referee: Craig Joubert (South Africa)
Assistant referees: Paul Marks (Australia), Stephen Hill (Australia)
TMO: Steve Leszczynski (Australia)