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Fijian Drua's 'structured chaos' awaits Reds at Suncorp
By AAP
James O'Connor is wary of Fijian Drua's "structured chaos" as he prepares for his first start of the Super Rugby Pacific season in a banana-peel clash for the Queensland Reds.
The Drua (2-1) stunned defending champions the Crusaders last weekend and almost upset the Reds (1-2) when they met last year at Suncorp Stadium.
It's no surprise O'Connor, who had ankle surgery in the off-season after he was dropped from the Wallabies squad, knows what to expect.
"Their progress is really good to see," he said of the second-year outfit.
"They're playing that style of footy that is hard to defend ... turning that structure into chaos."
Wallabies centre Hunter Paisami (concussion) won't play on Sunday in Brisbane, coach Brad Thorn opting to promote Taj Annan for a starting debut rather than use O'Connor or even Jordan Petaia at No.12.
It means O'Connor will get a chance to showcase his playmaking to new Wallabies coach Eddie Jones, while Tom Lynagh is on the bench after a promising three-game stint to begin the year at five-eighth.
Suliasi Vunivalu has also been benched to make room for Petaia on the wing, and Jock Campbell at fullback.
"The way we think the game's going to go, we went with a different option," O'Connor said when asked if his switch to inside centre had been considered.
"(Annan is a) big 12, a big body, good passing game, good left foot and loves a bit of contact.
"He's salivating, getting his shoulder ready."
The Reds scored 10 tries against the Western Force a fortnight ago and played expansively in the second half of a tight loss to the ACT Brumbies last weekend.
But O'Connor said they wouldn't go into their shells to nullify the Drua's desire for open, fast rugby.
"Rugby isn't a highly changeable sort of game; it's doing the basics well and picking a few things we want to tweak," he said.
REDS: Dane Zander, Matt Faessler, Zane Nonggorr, Ryan Smith, Seru Uru, Liam Wright (cc), Fraser McReight, Harry Wilson, Tate McDermott, James O'Connor, Filipo Daugunu, Taj Annan, Josh Flook, Jordan Petaia, Jock Campbell. Bench: Richie Asiata, Sef Fa'agase, Peni Ravai, Jake Upfield, Connor Vest, Kalani Thomas, Tom Lynagh, Suliasi Vunivalu.
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Latest Comments
I think we need to get innovative with the new laws.
Now red cards are only 20 minutes, Razor should send Finau on a head hunting mission to hospitalise their 10 with a shoulder to the chops.
Give the conspiracy theorists a win.
Go to commentsEngland played well enough to win but couldnt score when they needed to and couldnt defend a couple of X-Factor moments from Telea which was ultimately the difference. They needed to hold the ball more and make the AB's make more tackles. Territorially they were good for the first 60. Defending their lead and playing pragmatic rugby in the last 20 was silly. The AB's always had the potential to come back. England still have a long way to go, definite progress would have been shown had they won but it seems they are still stuck where they were shortly after the six nations and their tour to NZ
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