Conor Mitchell to captain Bond University Queensland Country in Perth
Sunshine Coast product Conor Mitchell will captain Bond University Queensland Country in their match against the Perth Spirit at the University of Western Australia this Sunday.
This will be the first time Mitchell has captained the side, and the opportunity comes as regular captain James Tuttle is rotated to the reserves for the Round 4 Buildcorp National Rugby Championship (NRC) match.
Head coach Toutai Kefu said: “Conor has been part of our leadership group all season and has previous leadership experience having captained the University of Queensland in Premier Rugby.
“He has played in every possible match for Queensland Country since joining the squad ahead of the 2015 season. He is a respected player within the squad on and off the field.”
A total of seven changes have been made to Country’s starting lineup ahead of their match against Perth Spirit.
In the front row, Sef Fa’agase and Kirwan Sanday will start at loose head and tight head prop respectively, with Ben Daley and Taniela Tupou moving to the reserves.
In the second row, Phil Potgieter will earn his first start of the 2016 season, coming in for Wallabies and St.George Queensland Reds lock Rob Simmons.
Ted Postal, who was part of Brothers’ 2016 BLK Queensland Premier Rugby championship campaign, has been named at blindside flanker and will make his NRC and Queensland Country debut. Angus Scott-Young has also been promoted to the starting XV at Number 8 after making his debut off the bench last weekend.
In the halves, Port Douglas product Issak Fines-Leleiwasa will make his starting debut at scrumhalf, with Tuttle rotated to the reserves. Tyrone Lefau has also been recalled to the starting lineup, and will make his first appearance on the wing for Country.
In the reserves, Tom Pincus has been brought back into to the side as cover for the outside backs.
“This week we’re looking to rotate some different players into the starting lineup and give guys a go who have been training well and contributing to the team,” Kefu said.
“Injury and form also come into the selection decisions, but the playing group understand the thinking behind the selections, we’ve made that clear to them.
“We came close against the team at the top of ladder last weekend and we’ll be looking to build on that performance and improve the elements of the game that we can control as we take on Perth this Sunday.”
Queensland Country play Perth Spirit at 3:00pm (AEST) on Sunday. The match will be broadcast live on Fox Sports.
Bond University Queensland Country side to play Perth Spirit, UWA Sports Park, 3:00pm AEST, Sunday 18 September:
- Sef Fa’agase – Reds/University of Queensland/Beaudesert
- Alex Casey – Souths
- Kirwan Sanday – Easts (Queensland Country starting debut)
- Izack Rodda – Queensland U20s/Easts
- Phil Potgieter – University of Queensland/Toowoomba
- Ted Postal – Brothers/Townsville (NRC/Queensland Country debut)
- Conor Mitchell – University of Queensland/Sunshine Coast (C)
- Angus Scott-Young – Queensland U20s/University of Queensland (NRC/Queensland Country starting debut)
- Issak Fines-Leleiwasa – Sunnybank/Port Douglas (NRC/Queensland Country starting debut)
- Mitch Third – Bond University/Gold Coast
- Liam McNamara – Queensland U20s/Sunnybank
- Duncan Paia’aua – Reds/Norths/Rockhampton
- Izaia Perese – Easts
- Tyrone Lefau – Wests
- Tom Banks – Reds/University of Queensland
Reserves
- Feleti Kaitu’u – GPS
- Ben Daley – Reds/Bond/Gold Coast
- Taniela Tupou – Reds/Brothers
- Maclean Jones – Queensland U20s/University of Queensland/ St George
- Jack Cornelsen – University of Queensland/Gold Coast
- James Tuttle – Reds/GPS
- Mack Mason – Queensland U20s/Easts/Mitchell
- Tom Pincus – University of Queensland/Gold Coast
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