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Rising star Harry McLaughlin-Phillips earns Reds start to play Rebels
By Finn Morton
Last weekend’s Reds hero at the breakdown, Harry McLaughlin-Phillips, has been handed a start in the No. 10 jersey ahead of Queensland’s clash with the Rebels in Melbourne.
McLaughlin-Phillips, who impressed for the Junior Wallabies last year and is still only 19, is one of two changes to the Reds’ starting side.
Fijian international Peni Ravai has been called up to replace the suspended Sef Fa’agase at loosehead prop.
As for the bench, the return of Wallaby Jordan Petaia is sure to excite Queensland fans as their rugby team searches for a second consecutive win.
The Reds haven’t lost in seven of the last eight meetings between the two Australian rivals, but the Rebels will take plenty of confidence out of winning their last matchup in March 2023.
Queensland are also looking to snap a four-match losing streak in Super Rugby Pacific outside of the Sunshine State, with their longest streak spanning seven matches from May 2019 to March 2020.
But after beating the then-undefeated Chiefs in front of their home fans at Brisbane’s Suncorp Stadium last weekend, and claiming third spot on the ladder as a result, the Reds are arguably the favourites ahead of this Round Four clash.
“Jordie’s return gives us good cover in the backline for a number of position,” coach Les Kiss said in a statement.
“It’s a big challenge. As a forward pack, the Rebels have found their mojo and allowed their backline to play.
“It’s really important for us to present a connected defensive line and have a strong set-piece set a good base for us.”
The Rebels will be full of belief themselves, though, after taking down the Western Force and Moana Pasifika in back-to-back rounds.
This clash between the Reds and Rebels is set to get underway at 6:30 pm AEST at Melbourne’s AAMI Park on Friday night.
Reds team to take on Melbourne Rebels
- Peni Ravai
- Matt Faessler
- Zane Nonggorr
- Seru Uru
- Ryan Smith
- Liam Wright (cc)
- Fraser McReight
- Harry Wilson
- Tate McDermott
- Harry McLaughlin-Phillips
- Mac Grealy
- Isaac Henry
- Josh Flook
- Suliasi Vunivalu
- Jock Campbell
Reserves
- Josh Nasser
- George Blake
- Jeffery Toomaga-Allen
- Cormac Daly
- John Bryant
- Kalani Thomas
- Tom Lynagh
- Jordan Petaia
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Latest Comments
What’s new its a common occurrence, just the journos out there expecting a negative spin. The outcome will be beneficial to jordie and Leinster. The home grown lads hav got some experience to step up to and be more competitive, that or spend the 6 months keeping the bench warm.
Go to commentsI’m all for speeding up the game. But can we be certain that the slowness of the game contributed to fans walking out? I’m not so sure. Super rugby largely suffered from most fans only being able to, really, follow the games played in their own time zone. So at least a third of the fan base wasn’t engaged at any point in time. As a Saffer following SA teams in the URC - I now watch virtually every European game played on the weekend. In SR, I wouldn’t be bothered to follow the games being played on the other side of the world, at weird hours, if my team wasn’t playing. I now follow the whole tournament and not just the games in my time zone. Second, with New Zealand teams always winning. It’s like formula one. When one team dominates, people lose interest. After COVID, with SA leaving and Australia dipping in form, SR became an even greater one horse race. Thats why I think Japan’s league needs to get in the mix. The international flavor of those teams could make for a great spectacle. But surely if we believe that shaving seconds off lost time events in rugby is going to draw fans back, we should be shown some figures that supports this idea before we draw any major conclusions. Where are the stats that shows these changes have made that sort of impact? We’ve measured down to the average no. Of seconds per game. Where the measurement of the impact on the fanbase? Does a rugby “fan” who lost interest because of ball in play time suddenly have a revived interest because we’ve saved or brought back into play a matter of seconds or a few minutes each game? I doubt it. I don’t thinks it’s even a noticeable difference to be impactful. The 20 min red card idea. Agreed. Let’s give it a go. But I think it’s fairer that the player sent off is substituted and plays no further part in the game as a consequence.
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