St.George Queensland Reds side to play Lions in Johannesburg
The St.George Queensland Reds have named their side to play the Lions at Ellis Park Stadium in Johannesburg.
The Reds have made three changes to the match-day 23 which lost narrowly to the Crusaders last week.
Hooker Andrew Ready has gained his first start of the season, coming into the Number 2 jersey, with Stephen Moore shifting to the bench. Lock Kane Douglas also returns to the starting side after Izack Rodda was unable to train fully due to a head knock against the Crusaders. That change has also allowed Lukhan Tui to come into the match-day 23 for the first time this season as a reserve.
Reds head coach Nick Stiles said: “One of the benefits of our squad is we have genuine depth in a number of positions. Both Andrew and Stephen have been exceptional for us over the first few weeks.
“Stephen has started the first few rounds, but we’ve got complete faith in Andrew to take on the starting role and having a guy of Stephen’s quality on the bench provides us with unmatched experience at the back end of the game.
“It’s disappointing not to be able to give Izack another run, but with the travel over here, he just didn’t have enough time to train and get through all the necessary protocols that come with a head knock. Again, we’ve got a lot of quality depth in the lock position. Both Kane and Lukhan bring a lot of aggression and physicality, so they’re a good fit for this game.
“The Reds haven’t had a great track record on this tour in recent years, but the professionalism and desire we’ve seen from the squad this week have been pleasing. We’re here to get results and a win at altitude against a quality team like the Lions would be a great reward for our hard work.”
The St.George Queensland Reds play the Lions at Ellis Park Stadium this Sunday 19 March at 1:15 am (AEST). The match will be broadcast live on Fox Sports.
St.George Queensland Reds side to play Lions
Sunday 19 March (AEST), Ellis Park Stadium
1. James Slipper (C) – Bond University
2. Andrew Ready – Easts
3. Sam Talakai – Brothers
4. Rob Simmons – Sunnybank
5. Kane Douglas – Norths
6. Hendrik Tui – Norths
7. George Smith
8. Scott Higginbotham – Wests
9. Nick Frisby – GPS
10. Quade Cooper – Souths
11. Eto Nabuli – GPS
12. Duncan Paia’aua – Norths
13. Samu Kerevi – Souths
14. Izaia Perese – Easts
15. Karmichael Hunt – Norths
16. Stephen Moore – University of Queensland
17. Markus Vanzati – Souths
18. Taniela Tupou – Brothers
19. Lukhan Tui – Souths
20. Adam Korczyk – University of Queensland
21. James Tuttle – GPS
22. Jake McIntyre – Sunnybank
23. Chris Kuridrani – GPS
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