Friday’s rugby news has the Brumbies trying to fill Pocock’s absence, the Reds quashing the controversial merger, sweeping changes for the Rebels and Sexton back for Ireland.
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Brumbies reshuffle
The Brumbies have decided to counter the absence of star openside David Pocock by reshuffling the back-row and bringing Leon Power off the bench to start in the second row alongside Sam Carter. Jarrad Butler will fill the vacant openside slot, moving captain Ben Mowen to no. 8 and Scott Fardy to blindside flanker.
Mowen displayed great faith in Butler, saying, ‘He’s strong over the ball, he can carry the ball and his defence is solid … he’ll do a bloody good job.’ Butler himself admitted that no.8 is his preferred position, also adding that making up for the loss of the former Wallaby captain will be a team effort. [/one_half]
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Reds kill merger talk
The Queensland Rugby Union has halted talks to radically structure the Australian Super Rugby landscape as part of a partial merger of the of the Reds, Waratahs and Rebels operations. These franchises would fall under the dominion of a centralised ‘Rugby Australia’ body, which would be based around the successful financial template used by QRU boss Jim Carmichael to rebuild the Reds.
Carmichael said there were several reasons for Queensland’s decision, including a lack of support from the Rebels and Waratahs, and a fear the plan could actually “dilute” the hard-won success of the QRU. This leaves ARU boss Bill Pulver back at the drawing board, after admitting Australian rugby’s dire finances. [/one_half]
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Rebels surprising line-up
Despite starting the Super Rugby seaon with an impressive 35-14 win over the Cheetahs last week, Rebels coach Tony McGahan has shockingly made six changes to his starting line-up for the team’s match against the Force on Saturday. Max Lahiff and Paul Alo-Emile have been promoted to the starting front row, with props Toby Smith and Laurie Weeks relegated to the bench. Meanwhile, Cadeyrn Neville will replace Luke Jones in the second row and Colby Fainga’a will start at openside flanker.
As for the backs, Angus Roberts will push fly half Bryce Hegarty back to the bench and Tom Kingston has replaced Lachlan Mitchell on the wing. [/one_half]
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Sexton fit for Italy match
Irish flyhalf Johhny Sexton has been named in Joe Schmidt’s starting line-up to face Italy in the penultimate round of the Six Nations. The 28 year old damaged his thumb ligaments in Ireland’s close defeat of England on February 22.The decision comes after Sexton proved his fitness in Thursday’s training session, subjecting his injured thumb to a series of tackling and grappling drills.
In other changes, Ulster’s Iain Henderson will start the game at blindside flanker, with Peter Mahoney still struggling with a hamstring injury. Saturday’s match will also see Brian O’Driscoll set a new world-record for Test appearances, taking his tally to 140. [/one_half]
