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Former All Blacks prop handed first start with Reds in Super Rugby Pacific
By Finn Morton
Former All Blacks and Hurricanes prop Jeffery Toomaga-Allen will start for the Reds for the first time in Super Rugby Pacific when the Queenslanders host the Brumbies on Saturday evening.
Toomaga-Allen, who was more recently capped for Samoa, has been promoted to the First XV along with wing Jordan Petaia as the only two changes to the run-on side.
The 33-year-old, who has played more than 200 first-class games in New Zealand, Europe and Australia, has been called on by coach Les Kiss three times to date this season.
"Our scrum has been a great platform for us. Jeffery's experience will be valuable in this area. Zane (Nonggorr) has done a fantastic job starting and the finisher role is an important one," coach Les Kiss said in a statement.
Wallaby Jordan Petaia also returns to the starting side as a replacement for Suliasi Vunivalu who drops to the bench.
The third and final day to the Reds’ matchday 23 is the inclusion of playmaker Lawson Creighton who has been selected ahead of 19-year-old Harry McLaughlin-Phillips.
"Suli has played a lot of minutes this season. This is another rotation. We want to maintain our No.13 and No.15 in position and we know Jordie has regularly shown his quality on the wing," Kiss continued.
"Lawson has been very impressive in training and in the games he has played for our Development XV and Brothers.
"We are very happy with the progress of Harry McLaughlin-Phillips coming into Super Rugby as a 19-year-old. He will no doubt feature again."
The Reds were the form Australian side in Super Rugby Pacific across the opening four rounds, with the Queenslanders placed second-overall with just the one defeat.
But a shock round five loss away to the Western Force in Perth has seen the Queenslanders drop down the ladder, with the Brumbies now the top-ranked Australian side in third.
"We're excited to play against the best Australian team over the past few seasons. They've earned that. We're keen to test ourselves in this one," Kiss added.
"It's a big day for the Reds women's team as well. We'll be supporting them to open the double-header against the Brumbies at Suncorp Stadium."
The match at Brisbane’s Suncorp Stadium is scheduled to get underway at 6:35pm AEST on Saturday evening.
Reds team to take on Brumbies
- Peni Ravai
- Matt Faessler
- Jeffery Toomaga-Allen
- Seru Uru
- Ryan Smith
- Liam Wright (cc)
- Fraser McReight
- Harry Wilson
- Tate McDermott
- Tom Lynagh
- Mac Grealy
- Hunter Paisami
- Josh Flook
- Jordan Petaia
- Jock Campbell
Reserves
- Josh Nasser
- George Blake
- Zane Nonggorr
- Cormac Daly
- John Bryant
- Kalani Thomas
- Lawson Creighton
- Suliasi Vunivalu
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Brumbies are looking good and if they keep their home form up a final is not beyond the realms of possibility. They showed against the Hurricanes exactly how clinical they can be as they absorbed pressure in that contest while also scoring points and applying their own pressure. Reds are well placed as well but need to find consistency. They are building a longer term project with a young side and plenty of quality players. Been surprising to see the strength of Aussie sides this year after the debacle of the world cup. Have NZ sides gotten weaker? Have Aussie sides gotten stronger? A bit of both I would say. Whatever the case its good to see some actual competition between NZ and Aus sides again and thats exactly what the fans wanted and is probably driving better viewership numbers. All of this can only be healthy for Aus and Super Rugby and I hope the Brumbies go all the way.
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