Former England international Danny Cipriani will make his Super rugby debut from the Melbourne Rebels bench, with James Hilgendorf to start at five-eighth for their historic clash with NSW on Friday night.
The AAP reports that Cipriani failed to crack the run-on side after some inconsistent performances in their warm-up matches ahead of the AAMI Park encounter with the Waratahs.
The 23-year-old was touted as a Test match-winner before he fell out of favour with the England rugby hierarchy due to his off-field exploits.
Advertisement: Story continues below He is likely to still get some game time at No.10 or at fullback, covering for Julian Huxley, who has had limited preparation because of osteitis pubis.
Veteran Sam Cordingley has recovered from a hip injury to start at halfback, relegating Wallaby tourist Nick Phipps to the bench.
Former Newcastle NRL player Cooper Vuna will partner skipper Stirling Mortlock in the centres, while the starting wingers are former rugby league international Luke Rooney and Lachlan Mitchell.
Nic Henderson and former All Black Greg Somerville are the starting props while Ged Robinson is the hooker with Adam Freier unavailable as he recovers from a back injury.
Macqueen said all players in the squad would get a run against the powerful Waratahs.
“We know this will be our greatest test yet, the Waratahs are a well-drilled, physical team, who have been playing together and enjoying success in Super rugby for many seasons, we are definitely the new kids on the block,” Macqueen said.
Rebels: Julian Huxley, Lachlan Mitchell, Stirling Mortlock (c), Cooper Vuna, Luke Rooney, James Hilgendorf, Sam Cordingley, Gareth Delve (vc), Michael Lipman, Hoani Macdonald, Kevin O’Neill, Adam Byrnes, Greg Somerville, Ged Robinson, Nic Henderson.
Res: Heath Tessmann, Laurie Weeks, Alister Campbell, Jarrod Saffy, Nick Phipps, Danny Cipriani, Afusipa Taumoepeau.
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Hilgendorf ahead of Cipriani????????
I wonder if he is playing mind games with the opposition?
Either way it is good to see the team announcements starting to roll in one by one.
Wycliff Palu has been ruled out of Friday’s Super Rugby opener against the Melbourne Rebels.
Palu is battling a hamstring injury and NSW coach Chris Hickey said today the powerful Wallabies No.8 could be sidelined for a couple more weeks.
@KSA Shark © (Comment 1) :
I don’t get it really..
They have been talking this oke up for months now, he was vice captain in all the trial games, and now he is benching..
If its not an injury concern, they must have realised that he isn’t that good..
@KSA Shark © (Comment 2) :
Refer to story posted about Waratahs team yesterday
‘Osteitis pubis’ 😯 😆
Cooper Vuna has scored a try in all of his games for the Rebels. Someone to keep an eye on.
@Richard Ferguson (Comment 3) :
I would NOT be at all surprised if he starts.
@Richard Ferguson (Comment 4) : 😳 😛
The South African kid on the wing. Does anyone know if he’s injured or just didn’t make the match 22 ?
@KSA Shark © (Comment 2) : Thanks for that …just traded Palu out of FL team.
Rebels are really an unknown factor…they may cause a couple of upsets.
@Speed:jp du plessis? Thought he plays outside centre??was hoping to see him in the match 22 also..but it is going to be a long tournament,so I’m sure he is going to feature somewhere sometime.
FLIP!!!!! 😯
How did I miss that?
Julian Huxley at 15 for the Rebels.
REMARKABLE comeback after brain surgery!!!!!!!!!
that’s not actually a bad side… I actually recognise 80% of the names.
Greg Sommervile? Flipping hell!
@robdylan (Comment 12) :
I wonder if he is allowed to bring his Zimmerframe onto the pitch? 🙂
These guys are going to perform WAY better than the other newcomers did when they joined.