Fainga’a returns for Reds
7 Mar 2013
RICHARD FERGUSON updates keo.co.za followers of the latest Super Rugby news from Australia.
Fainga’a back for Reds
Reds coach Ewen McKenzie has made three changes to the backline for the Reds clash against the Rebels this weekend.
Anthony Fainga’a is back in midfield after his injury lay-off, while Nick Frisby starts at scrumhalf in place of Ben Lucas. Lucas is on the bench, leaving Nigel Genia out of the squad and having to wait to make his debut.
At fullback, Jono Lance is the third player in three matches to don the 15 jersey, replacing Aidan Toua, with mike Harris covering flyhalf/centre/fullback from the bench.
The pack remains unchanged, with the loosies Quirk, Gill and Schatz expected to run amok at the breakdowns. No announcement has been made regarding the captaincy, but it was expected that Anthony Fainga’a will take over from James Slipper once he returns.
Queensland Reds: Jono Lance, Dom Shipperley, Anthony Faingaa, Ben Tapuai, Digby Ioane, Quade Cooper, Nick Frisby, Jake Schatz, Liam Gill, Ed Quirk, Ed O’Donoghue, Rob Simmons, James Slipper, Saia Faingaa, Greg Holmes. Substitutes: James Hanson, Albert Anae, Adam Wallace-Harrison, Radike Samo, Ben Lucas, Mike Harris, Chris Feauai-Sautia.
Volavola forces his starting debut
Ben Volavola has impressed off the bench and has forced coach Michael Cheika into naming him as starting fullback.
Volavola replaces Israel Folau, who has to shift to the wing. Folau has had a mixed start to his Super Rugby career, but is being touted as a Wallaby already. There is also a return to the bench for Lachie Turner, with Tom Kingston missing out on selection altogether.
Captain Dave Dennis shifts to the back of the scrum to replace the injured Wycliff Palu, with Mitchell Chapman coming onto the side of the scrum. The bench is loaded with forwards, with Pat McCutcheon back after his year long injury lay-off.
Waratahs: Ben Volavola, Israel Folau, Adam Ashley-Cooper, Tom Carter, Drew Mitchell, Bernard Foley, Brendan McKibbin, Dave Dennis, Michael Hooper, Mitchell Chapman, Kane Douglas, Sitaleki Timani, Sekope Kepu, Tatafu Polota-Nau, Benn Robinson. Substitutes: Luke Holmes, Paddy Ryan, Greg Peterson, Lopeti Timani, Pat McCutcheon, Matt Lucas, Lachie Turner.
Speight returns; Smith on the bench
As anticipated, George Smith will make his return to Super Rugby this weekend.
Smith has been named on the bench and will certainly come on during the match to run in tandem with Pocock, as coach Jake White experiments with two fetchers against the Waratahs.
Winger Henry Speight is the only change to the starting line-up, replacing Joe Tomane who will drop to the bench.
The Brumbies have enjoyed an early season bye and will be refreshed going into their third Australian derby match in four weeks.
Brumbies: 15. Jesse Mogg, 14. Henry Speight, 13. Andrew Smith, 12. Christian Lealiifano, 11. Clyde Rathbone, 10. Matt Toomua, 9. Nic White, 8. Ben Mowen, 7. David Pocock, 6. Peter Kimlin, 5. Sam Carter, 4. Scott Fardy, 3. Dan Palmer, 2. Stephen Moore, 1. Ben Alexander. Substitutes: 16. Siliva Siliva,17. Scott Sio,18. Fotu Auelua,19. George Smith,20. Ian Prior,21. Robbie Coleman,22. Joe Tomane
22 Comments
7 Mar 2013, 08:28 am
go the Rebs
7 Mar 2013, 08:33 am
Fainga’s had maybe two great games, ever.
7 Mar 2013, 08:39 am
Theres something about the hooker Fainga’a that I don’t like and sometimes I wished someone would lay into him…as for the other brother, not a long term option
7 Mar 2013, 08:45 am
@Te Rangatira-3:
ok, but i think the other brothers the focus here.
7 Mar 2013, 09:04 am
@Te Rangatira-3:
I am not a Saia Fainga’a fan either.
Tapuai is the centre that will do the damage here..
Hoping Digby has a stormer for my fantasy league!
7 Mar 2013, 09:18 am
I have updated the article to include the Brumbies team announcement.
7 Mar 2013, 09:27 am
Attaboys, glory beckons!
7 Mar 2013, 09:32 am
I need a thread to rant on about non-rugby related stuff. Which one would that be today?
7 Mar 2013, 09:35 am
This one is good enough it’s only about Jake’s fakes up against the Waltzing Matilda’s tied down the Wollongong drag or some rebellious rebellion between the rubble reds and the rabble rebels.
7 Mar 2013, 09:35 am
CHIEFS (vs Cheetahs)
http://www.chiefs.co.nz/news/chiefs-team-announced-to-play-cheetahs.html
7 Mar 2013, 09:37 am
This sh*t gets my blood boiling. From News24:
Robbers pepper-spray sleeping baby
Durban – A Durban family were shocked when robbers pepper-sprayed their sleeping 4-month-old baby after invading their home during an armed robbery.
Brenda and Allen Lockyear and their two children had only recently returned to South Africa after living overseas for 11 years, reported the Daily News.
They were staying with Lockyear’s parents, Pam and Des Naudé while their home was being renovated.
On Saturday night, while Allen Lockyear was away in the UK on business, robbers entered the home, pepper-spraying the aged family dog until it passed out.
One of the robbers walked up to Brenda Lockyear and pepper-sprayed the baby, who was asleep in his mother’s arms.
The men also pointed a gun at the couple’s other 3-year-old daughter.
“The baby was screaming with pain and he could not breathe. By this time two more suspects appeared. One of them cocked the gun and placed it to my husband’s head. He too was repeatedly pepper-sprayed,” said Pam Naudé, the mother of Allen Lockyear.
“They had no right to harm him [the baby]. That makes me very angry. Crime is out of control. It is getting worse and worse every day. My son [Allen] came back because this is home,” Naudé said.
“These guys were professionals. They seemed to know the layout of the house and where all the dogs were kept. They ransacked the entire house.”
Goods worth more than R350 000 were stolen and packed into Naudé’s car with the personalised licence plate, Gogo1 ZN.
Both children needed medical treatment.
Naudé said her son returned to South Africa the next day and said he would give his home country one more chance but should there be another incident, he will leave as soon as possible.
7 Mar 2013, 09:39 am
@Angostura-10: eish
my bad – last week’s lineup – please ignore
7 Mar 2013, 09:39 am
Where are Jake’s fakes playing Cheikas chumps in Waltzing Wollongong nsw or up in act terrifying territories?
7 Mar 2013, 09:42 am
@skopdiekan-13: Canberra, ACT
7 Mar 2013, 09:46 am
Oh well then advantage the fakes, that how it goes.
7 Mar 2013, 09:47 am
@Tacitus-11: Farking heroes are’t they?
Cnuts.
7 Mar 2013, 09:49 am
Waratahs and Brumbies play same style saffa stampkar stuff see who got the stuffing up for the stuff up when the 2 start stamping away at each other.
7 Mar 2013, 09:54 am
BULLS (vs Blues)
The Vodacom Bulls team is (with Super Caps): Zane Kirchner (73), Akona Ndungane (84), JJ Engelbrecht (18), Wynand Olivier(105), Lionel Mapoe (30), Mornè Steyn (108), Jano Vermaak (90), Pierre Spies (91, c), Arno Botha (12), Deon Stegmann (61), Juandrè Kruger (19), Flip van der Merwe (50), Frik Kirsten (17), Willie Wepener (55), Mornè Mellett (2).
Replacements: Chiliboy Ralepelle (54), Werner Kruger (77), Grant Hattingh (11), Jacques Potgieter (14), Francois Hougaard (47), Louis Fouché (12), Jürgen Visser (0).
7 Mar 2013, 09:57 am
It’s question time but the answers could be a way off
Ewen McKenzie
We are three rounds into the competition, which means we’ve hit the time of the season where questions are asked of everyone and everything. Nothing is immune to scrutiny. Laws, referees, coaches, players, selections, concussion protocols, scrum engagements and the video referee all come under the spotlight.
The reality, though, is that every year the first month brings a calibration of all that is new and everyone is trying to decide if things are working better.
This is often subjective, but in 15 games there have been six bonus points for scoring four-plus tries and five losing bonus points for coming within seven points. This would suggest there may be two levels of team this year, although it’s too early to pass judgment, especially when teams at this stage are primarily focused on getting their defence sorted.
There is always a team that surprises and the effort of the Blues against the Crusaders at the weekend was outstanding.
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On the flip-side, who would have thought that two of the season’s fancied teams – the Stormers and Hurricanes – would open with two straight losses. In our backyard, the Reds also began their season with a poor result against the Brumbies before responding with back-to-back wins at Suncorp Stadium against the Waratahs and Hurricanes. Pleasingly, this has taken our record at the venue to 23 wins from our past 26 matches.
What the results highlight is that not much credit gets carried over from the season before.
Everyone starts on a level playing field and you have to earn everything you get. From a Reds perspective, accumulating wins at this time of the year is especially important for us while several of our leaders, including Wallabies captains James Horwill and Will Genia, remain injured. The absence of key players is part of any season’s challenge, so to remain on the right side of the ledger is crucial before they return.
During these opening rounds we’ve had six players from our Super Rugby final winning-team on the sideline through injury, which has been frustrating but has also allowed us to see some of our prospects.
Genia, Horwill, Anthony Faingaa, Beau Robinson, Ben Daley and Radike Samo have all been crucial for us and know what winning a competition is like. Samo is back but the rest will return gradually and bring with them experience and enthusiasm.
The teams that can cover injuries with depth are the ones who can prevail and those that can bring experience from the bench will be able to endure the test of time that Super Rugby requires. To be successful you need a high-quality bench.
There are lots of questions and the answers won’t be known until the last round on July 13. But that’s the best part about Super Rugby, we don’t have all the answers here and now.
http://www.smh.com.au/rugby-union/union-news/its-question-time-but-the-answers-could-be-a-way-off-20130306-2flla.html
7 Mar 2013, 10:01 am
@skopdiekan-15:
Its actually really funny to see Jake show you up as a complete no knowledge, amateur couch rugby fanatic on this site.
All your rantings about how lucky he was in WC and what a k ak coach he is.
Now to see how well he’s done with a relative no name brand Brumbies side and you still cant give him any credit.
Hehe. It kills you that he’s doing so well.
7 Mar 2013, 10:02 am
@Tacitus-11:
absolutely an instance in which i would blow the phucker away and not bat an eyelid, ever.
7 Mar 2013, 22:39 pm
John Galt Jake’s an opportunity seeking fake you may not know it because he bummed a ride on other more astute rugby knowledge coaching shoulders while he fluked a non contest WC through the cards falling perfect for his histrionic achievements. Now he’s busy surrounding himself with a bevy of old time Brumbies leadership while he pretends to be the bees knees.
Jake is the ultimate opportunist which by default does not ever make him anywhere nearly an effective rugby voucher. 49-0 plus 3/10 vs NZ or 1/4 vs France doesn’t belie his true tried credentials whatsoever.
All he ever did was drive a pretty precocious pretense of professional prominence behind someone else’s expertise which he’s now become far more astute and clever at the game of charades. You may not know it or see it but other coaches who worked with him do. Like Nick Mallet Alan Solomons and I reckon perhaps even some contemporary coaches and players may know it too. Along with couch coaching boffins such as myself.
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