The only other changes are to the forward pack with James Hanson returns from the bench to start and Scott Higginbotham returning from his buttock strain. To accommodate Higgers, Radike drops to the bench, replacing Ed Quirk and Jake Shatz moves back to No. 8. The backline remains unchanged.
The Rebels are still without Captain Stirling Mortlock who has failed to overcome a stubborn calf strain, Gareth Delve retains the captains arm band.
In the forwards Luke Jones moves to lock to replace the suspended Adam Byrnes. He is replaced at blindside by Tim Davidson. The rest of the pack is unchanged.
The backline sees quite the shuffle though, suggesting Damien Hill believes the princesses cost them the game against the Tahs? Nick Phipps drops to the bench with Richard Kingi starting a move that should see a bit of spark added. Kingi has spent a bit of time with Will Genia, so perhaps he will be able to counter some Sanchez tricks. Game breaker Kurtley Beale returns from a sore hammy to make his Super Rugby debut for the Rebels in the 15 jersey. Mark Gerrard moves to the wing in place of Lachlan Mitchell who drops to the bench.
Teams
QLD Reds: 1. Ben Daley 2. James Hanson 3. James Slipper 4. Rob Simmons 5. James Horwill (c) 6. Scott Higginbotham 7. Liam Gill 8. Jake Shatz 9. Will Genia (vc) 10. Mike Harris 11. Digby Ioane 12. Jono Lance 13. Ben Tapuai 14. Dom Shipperley 15. Luke Morahan
Reserves: 16. Saia Faingaa 17. Greg Holmes 18. Van Humphries 19. Radike Samo 20. Beau Robinson 21. Ben Lucas 22. Rod Davies
V.
Melbourne Rebels: 1. Nic Henderson, 2. Adam Freier 3. Laurie Weeks 4. Luke Jones 5. Hugh Pyle 6. Tim Davidson 7. Tom Chamberlain 8. Gareth Delve (c) 9. Richard Kingi 10. Danny Cipriani 11. Cooper Vuna 12. James O’Connor 13. Mitch Inman 14. Mark Gerrard 15. Kurtley Beale
Reserves: 16. Luke Holmes 17. Rodney Blake 18. Al Campbell 19. Jarod Saffy 20. Nick Phipps 21. Lachlan Mitchell 22. Julian Huxley
Details
Reds v Rebels, Kick-off 7:10pm AEST, Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane
- LIVE on FOX Sports 3HD & 3 from 7:00 AEST
- LIVE on 612 ABC Brisbane and across QLD on ABC Local Radio, Grandstand Digital and streamed online at www.abc.net.au/grandstand from 6:30 AEST
- Be part of the conversation on Twitter using #REDvREB
Referee: Angus Gardner
Assistant Referee: Damien Mitchelmore
Assistant Referee: Rohan Hoffman
TMO: Steve Leszczynski
Game Breaker
It’s tempting to say the game breaker of this match will be a pair of size 10 Adidas Predators, but I think the Reds backline will click this weekend.
So far the Reds have played against the known strong defence of the Waratahs and the back row of the Force and still managed to take the wins. There has been some talk of a lack of tries this year, but at the same time against the same opponents last year, they are already a try up on the tally board.
This is probably as strong a backline as the Rebels can field and it will cause some problems for the Reds defence if Tatsy Taylor hasn’t been working the boys hard enough after the soft tries they let in on the weekend. I suspect that full attention would have been paid to the tackle bags and the much vaunted defence will be back up to scratch.
The fearless prediction
Reds to earn a 5 point win. No, that isn’t a prediction that Mike Harris will miss a conversion, we are talking a bonus point win. I think the Rebels will score a few as well, so it will be a high scoring match. The winning habit shown by the Reds will get them the points.
Reds by 8
