East v West in NRC Final
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Perth Spirit will travel to Ballymore Stadium to contest the inaugural National Rugby Championship against Brisbane City.
Seven players with Super Rugby experience will take the field for Brisbane City while for Perth Spirit there is an unchanged 23-man side.
Brisbane City head coach Nick Stiles made just one injury forced change to the starting XV that defeated NSW Country Eagles 32-26 in the semifinal last week.
City centre Samu Kerevi has been ruled out due to a quad injury and will be replaced by Jack Mullins, who was Brisbane City’s starting inside centre and opening try scorer in their win over the Vikings at Suncorp Stadium two weeks ago.
Stiles said while Kerevi’s absence was disappointing, there was still plenty to like about the side contesting the final.
“Samu has had a strong presence for City all season, but this side has made its way to the final through the collective efforts of the entire squad and depth has been one of our strongest assets.
“Mullins has a lot of experience in Premier Rugby, having captained Easts to a title in 2013, and has played inside centre for us previously and played well.
“The key for us this weekend is our attitude. We’ve had our ups and downs, but we’ve worked hard and earned a home grand final and the guys are proud of that and excited for the opportunity to play at Ballymore again.
“Our season has been based on hard work and enjoyment, so I expect nothing less from them this weekend.”
The Spirit defeated the Melbourne Rising, 45-29, in their semifinal last week on the back of a courageous defensive effort and will look to carry that momentum through against a strong Brisbane City side.
The only change to the starting XV is in the backline with Ammon Matuauto and Junior Rasolea trading jerseys in the centres.
Spirit coach Kevin Foote said the team is excited for Saturday’s grand final.
“A lot of hard work and commitment has gone into this season and we’re very excited to contest the inaugural NRC grand final this Saturday,” Foote said.
“It’s humbling to have this opportunity and we are looking forward to the challenge.
“Our effort last week against the Rising was outstanding and we know we will need to match that this week against a Brisbane City side that have a number of strong ball-runners and will be physical at the breakdown and strong at set-piece.
“This competition has allowed us to expose 42 Perth-based players – including 25 outside of the Force senior squad – to high-level rugby and it has broadened our playing base in Western Australia as well as allowing us to continue to build our Super Rugby program.
“This is a big occasion and the boys are looking forward to getting out there, playing for each other and representing our passionate fans and WA rugby community.”
Teams:
Brisbane City:15 Brando Va’aulu, 14 Chris Kuridrani, 13 Toby White, 12 Jack Mullins, 11 Matt Feaunati, 10 Jake McIntyre, 9 Nick Frisby, 8 Jake Schatz, 7 Liam Gill, 6 Curtis Browning, 5 Dave McDuling (captain), 4 Marco Kotze, 3 Sef Faagase, 2 Andrew Ready, 1 Pettowa Paraka.
Replacments: 16 Matt Mafi, 17 David Feao, 18 Phil Kite, 19 Tim Buchanan, 20 Adam Korczyk, 21 Will Thompson, 22 James Dalgleish, 23 Junior Laloifi.
Perth Spirit: 15 Dane Haylett-Petty, 14 Luke Morahan, 13 Solomoni Rasolea, 12 Ammon Matuauto, 11 Marcel Brache, 10 Zack Holmes, 9 Ian Prior, 8 Alex Rovira, 7 Kane Koteka, 6 Brynard Stander, 5 Brent Murphy, 4 Sam Wykes (captain), 3 Oliver Hoskins, 2 Robbie Abel, 1 Pek Cowan.
Replacments: 16 Harry Scoble, 17 Joe Savage, 18 Chris Heiberg, 19 Kieran Stringer, 20 Richard Hardwick, 21 Justin Turner, 22 Davis Tavita, 23 Christian Joubert.
Date: Saturday November 1
Venue: Ballymore Oval, Brisbane
Kick-off: Local 18.30 (16.30 AWST; 08.30 GMT)
Referee: TBC
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