McInnes Wilson Lawyers Brisbane City side to play Western Sydney Rams at Ballymore Stadium

Sep 1 • General News, International • 1330 Views • Comments Off on McInnes Wilson Lawyers Brisbane City side to play Western Sydney Rams at Ballymore Stadium

The McInnes Wilson Lawyers Brisbane City side has been named for their first home match of the 2016 Buildcorp National Rugby Championship.

City coaches have made six changes to the starting side to face the Rams in this Horan-Little Shield challenge match, headlined by the return of two-time championship winners Nick Frisby and Jake McIntyre.

“It’s good to be able to bring Nick and Jake back into the side. They’ve both been very proud and passionate members of Brisbane City since the beginning, so they’ll offer a lot in terms of enthusiasm, as well as experience,” Brisbane City head coach Rod Seib said.

“We certainly weren’t happy with the result last week but we’re better for having played the match and trained together for another week. This weekend presents us another opportunity to get better and also to play at Ballymore in front of our friends and family. We have the added incentive of having the Horan-Little Shield on the line. It’s always nice playing for a bit of ‘silverware’ and we’d love to keep it at Ballymore.”

Frisby’s involvement has shifted Moses Sorovi to the bench, while McIntyre’s return is a timely one as youngster Jake Strachan suffered a shoulder injury in last week’s match.

Reds flyer Chris Kuridrani has moved from wing to outside centre, with Brad Lacey coming into the starting side on the wing.

In the other changes to the starting side, standout flanker Luke Beauchamp has been shifted from flanker to second row, allowing Souths’ Isi Naisarani his first start at blindside flanker.

Seib has also made three changes to the bench. Criff Tupou gets his first opportunity in the City jersey since injury cut his season short in Round 1 last year, while outside backs Mitch Felsman and Jayden Ngamanu are in line to make their Brisbane City debuts.

Round 2 of NRC will also see all four home teams wear pale blue socks to raise awareness for prostate cancer. #Pass4Prostate is a joint initiative by Australian Rugby Union, Astellas Pharma Australia and Prostate Cancer Foundation Australia.

Fans across Australia can show their support for the initiative by “throwing a football pass” on their personal social media accounts. Every post that features the #Pass4Prostate hashtag triggers a donation to the Prostate Cancer Foundation of Australia from Astellas Pharma.

Fans are encouraged to make the most of the family friendly kick-off time and get to Ballymore Stadium this Saturday afternoon to watch some entertaining, attacking Rugby. As is tradition with games at Ballymore, fans will be allowed on the field after the match.

Brisbane City plays the Western Sydney Rams at Ballymore Stadium this Saturday at 3:00pm. Tickets are available at www.redsrugby.com.au. The match will also be broadcast live on Fox Sports.

McInnes Wilson Lawyers Brisbane City side to play Western Sydney Rams
3:00pm, Saturday 3 September
Ballymore Stadium, Brisbane
1. Pettowa Paraka – Reds/Easts
2. Andrew Ready – Reds/Easts
3. Sam Talakai (C) – Reds/Brothers
4. Luke Beauchamp – Brothers
5. Lukhan Tui – Reds/Brothers
6. Isi Naisarani – Souths
7. Michael Gunn – Reds/Easts
8. Leroy Houston – Reds/Wests
9. Nick Frisby – Reds/GPS
10. Jake McIntyre – Reds/Sunnybank
11. Alex Gibbon – Reds/Norths
12. Toby White – Easts
13. Chris Kuridrani – Reds/GPS
14. Brad Lacey – Wests Scarborough (run-on debut)
15. Patrick James – Brothers

16. Matt Mafi – Reds/Brothers
17. Markus Vanzati – Souths
18. Feao Fotuaika – Sunnybank
19. Criff Tupou – Brothers
20. Jack de Guingand – University of Queensland
21. Moses Sorovi – Queensland U20s/University of Queensland
22. Mitch Felsman – Brothers (Brisbane City/NRC debut)
23. Jayden Ngamanu – Queensland U20s/Souths (Brisbane City/NRC debut)