Wide-eyed teenager Luke Morahan has joined the Wallabies squad in Edinburgh in another sign of coach Robbie Deans's unflinching faith in youth.

Morahan, an Australian sevens star with just 56 minutes of Super rugby experience under his belt, provides backline insurance for Deans, who has already lost centres Stirling Mortlock (calf), Berrick Barnes (ankle) and Rob Horne (hamstring) for the tour.

With fullback Adam Ashley-Cooper (quad) and centre Digby Ioane (shoulder) pulling up sore after last Saturday's 20-20 draw with Ireland, Deans can ill-afford not to be covered for outside backs.

The touring Wallabies still have three games remaining - Tests against Scotland and Wales, plus a mid-week clash with Cardiff sandwiched in between next Tuesday night.

"And with the potential for injury on the weekend, it would have been foolhardy not to have brought him," Deans said.

"It just alleviates the pressure on the whole group obviously with three games in seven days.

"We were travelling with one less in our original squad anyway after losing Stirling."

While Deans is already well aware of Morahan's capabilities, the 19-year-old will get his big chance to further showcase his skills against the Cardiff Blues.

"He'll definitely have a jersey on. Whether he's in the starting line-up remains to be seen yet," the coach said.

"Obviously he's a player of the future so he's been brought across for the development opportunity. He's clearly a bloke who's got a big future. It's a great opportunity for him to get underway.

"He was a standout in the sevens program - the top tryscorer, good defender, strong. He's got a size about him, he's quick, he's got all the components.

"He doesn't have a big background in Super rugby but he'll get it this year. You'll see a lot of him and you'll see what we see."

The strapping 95kg fullback-winger says he was completely stunned by his call-up, but now looking forward to training with the Wallabies and sponging as much information as he can in the final fortnight of the grand slam tour.

Rugby sevens is increasingly becoming a breeding ground for future Wallabies stars.

Morahan is the third squad member to emerge from the sevens circuit in the last 12 months, joining teenage backline utility James O'Connor and uncapped halfback Richard Kingi.

He is the ninth member of Deans's touring group to have successfully made their way into the Wallabies fold via the sevens program.

Matt Giteau, Adam Ashley-Cooper, Peter Hynes, Drew Mitchell, Richard Brown and Matt Hodgson also all made their names in the sevens arena before starring for the Wallabies.

Horne also originated from the sevens program.

Morahan made his Super 14 debut for Queensland against South Africa's Lions in April, coming off the bench at halftime, before being injured 16 minutes into his second match against the Auckland Blues.

He required a shoulder reconstruction, but recently returned to Reds training in the hope of winning a regular starting spot in 2010.

The average age of Deans's touring squad is just 24.

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