Matt Dunning, the forgotten prop in Australian rugby, will make a late push for a Wallabies recall after earning selection in the NSW front-row for Saturday night's Super 14 tussle with the Highlanders.

The 28-year-old loosehead played the last of his 25 Tests on the Wallabies' ill-fated spring tour of Europe in 2005 but Waratahs coach Ewen McKenzie suggested it was time for national selectors to move on from the Twickenham scrum debacle and wipe Dunning's slate clean.

Dunning played a villain's role when the Australian scrum was condemned for disintegrating under the might and power of the England pack - and has since been consistently overlooked by Wallabies coach John Connolly.

"There's a few guys out there who are still paying the price for that Test match back in England. They had their cards marked," McKenzie said after promoting Dunning for his first start of the season in one of five changes to the Waratahs line-up.

"I think that other (front-row) options have been tried in the meantime (but) I'm not sure that we've nailed the solutions yet.

"So, given that's Matt's turned a lot of things around in his game ... his enthusiasm, a lot of things have picked up in the last six or eight months and he's put a lot of work in, I think he's put himself back in contention.

"Whether that's good enough, I don't know, but this is a good game for him to show where he's up to."

Indeed, Dunning will receive no greater chance to impress than at Aussie Stadium on Saturday night when he goes eyeball-to-eyeball with Highlanders hardman Carl Hayman.

"It's true in some games you can make a name for yourself and he's up against probably the best tighthead prop in the world, so it's a good game for him to show where he's up to," McKenzie said.

"It's not lost on me that the (only) game the All Blacks lost last year was the one that he didn't play in.

"He's a very important guy and there's only three guys they don't rest too often in that All Black team and that's him, (Richie) McCaw and (Dan) Carter.

"So that will tell you where he stands in the All Blacks pecking order.

"And Matt Dunning had a pretty good game against him two years ago when we played them and won and that's not lost on me.

"He's been there and done that, so I don't really have an issue giving him another crack at it.

"I think Matt Dunning's been in good form."

With the Waratahs out of semi-finals contention, McKenzie has promoted Dunning and hooker Tatafu Polota-Nau, with Benn Robinson and caretaker captain Adam Freier to start on the bench.

"They're both Wallabies," McKenzie said.

"I think they've got something to add. Our scrum's been going pretty well and those guys have all been part of that.

"It's always been about more than just having three front-rowers. We've been using five - and more than that, to be honest - and those five have been doing a good job for us."

Flanker Rocky Elsom will captain the Waratahs for the first time, with star winger Lote Tuqiri assuming the vice-captaincy after Morgan Turinui suffered a knee injury at training that will sideline him for six weeks.

Sam Harris replaces Turinui at inside-centre.

In other changes, Dean Mumm is back at lock for Ben Hand, who is in doubt with a back injury, while Brumbies-bound scrum-half Josh Holmes will make his maiden Super 14 starting appearance after Josh Valentine failed to recover from a knee injury sustained in last Saturday's drought-breaking 26-13 win over Queensland.

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