GAME 6
Saturday February 24 SUNCORP STADIUM, BRISBANE
Reds
Head coach Les Kiss has included nine players with Wallabies experience as well as former All Blacks prop Alex Hodgman for the blockbuster opener to the Super Rugby Pacific season.
For Hodgman, 30, it will be his debut as a Queensland Reds player after previous Super Rugby stints with the Crusaders and Blues in New Zealand.
Three potential Super Rugby Pacific debutants have been named in the Reds’ match-day squad of 23 with teenage flyhalf Harry McLaughlin-Phillips, backrower John Bryant and Irish lock Cormac Daly on the bench.
The trio won their first caps for Queensland late last year in the match against Japan’s Saitama Panasonic Wild Knights, headed by ex kiwi, Robbie Deans, but this would be a first taste of Super Rugby Pacific.
McLaughlin-Phillips and Bryant are both products of Queensland rugby pathways. Daly has made a strong impression with his work rate since joining from Sydney’s Shute Shield premiers Randwick last year after his rugby education in Ireland where he played for the national Under-20s side.
Waratahs
Despite a string of minor injuries, Head Coach Darren Coleman has named a strong side for the opening round, which could see up to five players make their debuts for the Waratahs.
Miles Amatosero and Fergus Lee-Warner have been selected to start in the forward pack, while Theo Fourie, Hayden Thompson-Stringer, and Sam Thomson have been named on the bench.
After getting through 40 minutes in his return from injury in the trial against the Warringah Rats and the Manly Marlins last weekend, Max Jorgensen will be eased into Round 1 from the interchange bench, with the versatile Joey Walton to start at fullback.
Izaia Perese made a successful return in last week’s trial after missing the previous fixture against the Reds with an ankle complaint and is raring to go against his former side.
The Waratahs are out for back-to-back wins over the Reds for the first time since 2019
The NSW side have three straight wins against Australian teams, as many as they won across 17 games prior.
Reds flanker Fraser McReight won 22 turnovers in 2023, more than two times as many as any Waratahs player.
Players
Reds (1-15): Alex Hodgman, Matt Faessler, Zane Nonggorr, Seru Uru, Ryan Smith, Liam Wright (co-c), Fraser McReight, Harry Wilson, Tate McDermott (co-c), Tom Lyngah, Mac Grealy, Hunter Paisami, Josh Flook, Suli Vunivalu, Jordan Petaia
Replacements: Josh Nasser, Peni Ravai, Sef Fa’agase, Cormac Daly, John Bryant, Kalani Thomas, Harry McLaughlin-Phillips, Jock Campbell
Waratahs: Angus Bell, Mahe Vailanu, Harry Johnson-Holmes, Jed Holloway, Miles Amatosero, Fergus Lee-Warner, Charlie Gamble, Langi Gleeson, Jake Gordon (c), Tane Edmed, Dylan Pietsch, Lalakai Foketi, Izaia Perese, Mark Nawaqanitawase, Joey Walton
Replacements: Theo Fourie, Hayden Thompson-Stringer, Dan Botha, Sam Thomson, Hugh Sinclair, Teddy Wilson, Harry Wilson, Max Jorgensen
Referee: Paul Williams
Assistant Referees: Dan Waenga, Mike Winter
The two red-headgear-wearing number eights have made their intentions clear to target each other in this contest.
Gleeson beat out Wilson to go to France, with this encounter a great chance for Wilson to send a message to Joe Schmidt, the new Wallabies coach.
As for Gleeson, he has his own motivations after a single appearance from the bench in the World Cup.
Prediction
Well, the Reds won the trial in Roma recently 32-7,and while it was only a trial, it would give the team confidence and experience for the younger players. I like the look of Hodgman, having watched him previously at the Crusaders and he has a good work ethic. With James O’Connor still side lined, Tom Lyngah gets to run the cutter, outside Tate McDermott, and this could be the key for me, with NSW having Jake Gordon and Tane Edmed. Whoever handles the pressure better and makes the least mistakes will get the chocolates. With home advantage and the temperature in the 30’s, with high humidity, I will go for the Reds by 3 points.
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